Crazy in Love
by medium-americano-black
Summary: The Journey of Marrish beginning in Season 4. Each chapter has a song inspiration, which it is named after.
1. Chapter 1: Unsteady

Summary: Jordan first meets Lydia when he's watching the Walcott house, and they make a shocking discovery.

Based on episode 4x03

Music Inspiration: Unsteady by X Ambassadors

* * *

Chapter 1: Unsteady

It was late in the afternoon and Jordan Parrish was sitting on surveillance duty outside the Walcott residence. Sheriff Stilinski wanted him to watch the house since it was a fresh crime scene for a triple homicide. To busy himself he decided to flip through the crime scene photos looking for any clues missed by the other deputies or the M.E., whose only conclusion was that the murder weapon was some sort of axe. Every few minutes he looked up from the morbid photographs to check for any activity around the house.

A couple hours in and there had been no movement or signs of suspicious activity. Looking at the pictures he wasn't making much progress either. However, this time when he looked up he saw someone _inside_ the house walking by the front door _._ He was quick to hop out of the squad car and draw his gun.

He opened the front door slowly with his gun at the ready. "Beacon County Sheriff's Department!" he shouted into the house. His eyes glanced around the empty foyer, searching for any signs of movement. "This is a crime scene. Show yourself."

His eyes moved to the room at his right as he inched closer for a better look around. Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention and he drew his gun on the trespasser, prepared to shoot if necessary.

Jordan put down his gun when he processed the sight of a young woman before him. She had strawberry blonde hair, fair skin, green eyes like his own, and bright red lips. This wasn't just any young woman. This was the renowned Lydia Martin. The same Lydia Martin who wandered around in the woods naked for two days in a fugue state. The same Lydia Martin who has a habit of showing up at crime scenes before the police even know about them. _So what is she doing here?_

Her face was contorted into an expression of bewilderment, as if she didn't know why she was there either. Still, he had to ask.

"What are you doing here?"

"I would try to explain it, but…" she started. "I've never gotten a satisfactory explanation myself."

Jordan looked at her in astonishment. "Just an unusual habit of showing up at places where people have been brutally murdered?"

She folded her arms across her chest, tilted her head slightly, and looked him in the eyes. "So you know who I am," she said more as a statement than a question. "But I don't know who you are."

He nodded slowly. "Yes, I am familiar with your – experiences. I'm Deputy Jordan Parrish." He hesitated. "I hear things at the station about your, shall we say, 'uncanny abilities'?"

She eyed him with an inquisitive expression. "Are you saying I have a reputation?"

"An unusual one," Jordan replied. "Maybe you're psychic."

She scoffed, looking him up and down. "Don't tell me you believe all that?"

He smiled slightly, catching the flirtatious undertones in her body language. "I'd like to say I don't believe in anything. But I keep an open mind."

Lydia had walked away from his side to the nearby wall. She was blankly staring at the wood paneling. Since she didn't respond, Jordan continued. "But if you're looking for dead bodies, I think you're a little late."

Still not responding, Lydia reached out and touched the wall. Her hand caressed the wooden boards before she suddenly pressed her palm against it. When she did this, the wall opened up, revealing a hidden passageway. She whipped her head around to look at Jordan, who now had his gun out. Lydia opened the secret door so they could see inside, but Jordan put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her back so he could go in first.

He entered the tunnel-like passage with his gun and a flashlight in hand, swiftly followed by Lydia. The passageway was empty, its walls made of stacked brick and wooden support beams. At the end of the hall was a doorway with a rubbery plastic curtain, cut into three inch slices all the way down, covering the opening. Jordan entered the room and, looking around, saw no one inside, dead or alive. He did, however, see a light switch on the wall to his left. He reached out and flipped the lights on, taking in for the first time just how cold it really was in the room.

Glancing around he put his gun back in its holster and looked over at Lydia. "I think it's a game locker. Like venison."

The cinderblock room was full of large plastic bags, which were suspended from the ceiling. They looked like they could be holding deer or some other large game. Jordan stepped closer to the bags. "Hunting's legal in some parts of the state, but…" he drifted off as he looked closer at one of the bags.

Lydia noticed his concerned expression. "What is it?" she asked.

Jordan reached out and began to unzip the bag hanging in front of him. Once he saw inside, the color drained from his face and his voice caught in his throat. "It's not venison." Inside the bag was a dead body, a human one to be exact. He quickly zipped the bag back up, hoping Lydia hadn't been able to see inside. He put a hand on her shoulder and gently tugged her towards the door they came in. "Let's get you out of here. I need to radio this in."

Lydia nodded, unable to speak because she was still in shock from what she did in fact see in that bag. She walked back out of the game locker with Jordan, and he looked over at her as they stepped into the foyer. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home, but first I've got to contact Dispatch and let the Sheriff know what we found. In the meantime, you can wait in my squad car if you'd like."

She simply nodded again and followed him to the car. He opened the door and let her in before walking back over to the house and talking into his radio on his shoulder. Lydia opened her purse and fumbled around for her phone. It took her a minute to pick it up because she was shaking from this unsettling development. She took a deep breath and called Scott. It was getting late and she knew she needed to reach him as soon as possible.

After a couple rings she heard Scott's voice on the other end of the line. "Hey, Lydia."

"Where are you?" she burst out. "I couldn't call…I couldn't get away from the deputy."

He interrupted her. "Okay, slow down…"

Lydia took a shaky breath. "You need to get to the hospital. You need to get there right now. The son, the only one who survived…he's there."

"So am I. I'm at the hospital too," Scott replied quickly.

"Then find him. Find Sean Walcott." Lydia cleared her throat. "The deputy and I just discovered a game locker in his house. But, Scott, it's full of dead bodies. I think his family – I think they're cannibals."

"Don't worry, Lydia. I'll find him."

She hung up the phone just in time to see two other squad cars pull up to the house and one she recognized as belonging to Sheriff Stilinski. She saw Jordan talking with the other deputies and the Sheriff for a few minutes before walking in the house. After just a moment, Jordan and the Sheriff emerged from the building. The Sheriff hopped in his car and drove off quickly while Jordan was walking back over to his squad car. He climbed into the vehicle and looked up at Lydia. "Alright, they've got this situation under control. Just let me know how to get to your house and I'll take you home."

"Okay," she said quietly. The car ride to her house was mostly silent, with the exception of her occasional directions. Jordan pulled into her driveway and stopped the car before helping her get out. Despite her objections, he walked her to her front door.

Lydia peered up at him, noticing how tired and tense he looked. "Thank you," she said. "I really appreciate the ride home."

He smiled. "No problem, anytime." He held out his hand to shake hers. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Martin."

Taking his hand in hers, she laughed. "Please, just call me Lydia. Otherwise I'll feel like my mom."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Alright then, _Lydia_."

His expression dropped when a call came in on his radio. Lydia couldn't understand what was being said. He answered it back quickly and started to go. Then he turned around and noticed Lydia's confusion. "I have to go. Goodnight, Lydia."

Lydia started to panic. _What was the call about? What's wrong? Are Scott and the rest of the pack okay? What about his mom?_

She called out after him as he started walking back down the sidewalk to his car once again. "What's wrong? What was that call about?"

Jordan stepped a few feet closer so she could hear him better and looked back at her with an uneasy expression on his face. "Sean Walcott is dead."


	2. Chapter 2: I Want You To Know

Summary: Jordan makes a new friend at the hospital, Lydia and Kira try to figure out Lydia's coded "math notes," and Scott's pack figures out a way to get Liam to the lake house for the full moon.

Based on episode 4x04

Music Inspiration: I Want You To Know by Alyson Stoner and MAX/Max Schneider

* * *

Chapter 2: I Want You To Know

Jordan pulled up to the hospital and swiftly jumped out of his car. Nearly half a dozen deputies were already on the scene. He was instructed to meet the others up on the hospital's roof. Apparently the boy was killed up there.

Once he finally made it to the roof, he saw the Sheriff standing by one of the hospital's air units and talking into his radio. Several other deputies were taking photographs of the young boy lying dead on the concrete surface. He walked closer and had to put up his arm to shield his eyes from the searchlight of a circling helicopter. Jordan watched the commotion somewhat in shock. Less than an hour ago he had discovered corpses in a game locker in this boy's house, and now he was dead, murdered, just like the rest of his family.

Sheriff Stilinski approached Jordan and leaned in to be heard over the helicopter above them and surrounding chatter. "Hey, let's get everyone off the roof. And see if you can stall the M.E. for five minutes." Jordan looked at him in confusion. The Sheriff continued. "I've got an expert of my own coming to take a look."

"You have an expert on teenage cannibals?" He couldn't believe it even made sense for him to ask the Sheriff a question like that. _What does the Sheriff know that I don't?_

The Sheriff fumbled with his words, not entirely sure how to answer him. "Five minutes, Parrish."

Jordan sighed. Even though it made no sense, he had to follow orders. He got the attention of the other deputies and motioned for them to go back inside. After the last deputy stepped inside, he closed the door behind them and hopped down the steps, taking them two at a time. He turned around at the sound of someone desperately calling out his name.

"Deputy Parrish! Has anyone seen a Deputy Jordan Parrish?" a woman shouted down the hallway.

He ran over to the woman. "I'm Deputy Parrish. What's wrong?"

Looking more closely at the woman before him, he saw that her scrubs were stained with blood and her dark, curly hair was sticking out from her ponytail.

"Are you alright?" he asked nervously.

She nodded quickly. "Yes, I'm fine. But my son, Scott, – he told me to find you. He said you were the last one to talk to Lydia. He and his friends wanted to be sure she was alright."

"Lydia Martin?" he asked in shock. "Your son is friends with Lydia Martin?"

The woman nodded again. "Yes, is she alright?"

Jordan looked the stressed and anxious woman in the eyes. "Lydia is fine. I drove her home about forty minutes ago."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. The kids heard 'family of cannibals,' and all they knew was that Lydia had been at their house. No wonder they were concerned."

He heard one of the other deputies whistle to get his attention "Parrish, come on!"

"I've got to go. Glad I could be of assistance."

The woman held out her hand before he walked away. "I'm Melissa McCall, by the way. I don't think we introduced ourselves."

"Deputy Jordan Parrish," he replied. "It was nice to meet you, ma'am." He offered her a small smile before walking away.

 _I'm sure glad Lydia has friends who will worry about her like that. After everything she's been through I think someone needs to keep an eye on her._

* * *

The next day, Lydia and Kira sat in Biology class before it started, looking at code on Lydia's laptop.

"These are your math notes?" Kira asked. "No wonder Malia's failing."

Lydia replied without taking her eyes off the screen. "Um, some of them are my notes. The rest I think might actually be a code."

Kira looked at her curiously. "But you don't remember writing it?"

"Not in the slightest," she replied. "But considering my drawing of a tree led us to the Nemeton, I should probably figure out what it means before it tries to kill us."

Returning her eyes to the screen, Kira had a thought. "Maybe it's like the Enigma Code the Allies used." She looked back at Lydia. "Remember my dad was a World War II buff? And my mom was, well…in it."

Lydia furrowed her brows at the jumbled letters and numbers. "I think this is a variation on something called the Vigenere Cipher."

"Do you know how to crack it?" Kira asked.

Raising her eyebrow and scoffing, Lydia replied. "With a key."

A jangling sound coupled with movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She looked up and saw her mom standing beside her, holding a set of keys.

"Remember the rules," Natalie Martin said slowly. "No more than six people allowed in the lake house. Stay out of the wine. And if anything gets broken, it's getting added to your credit card debt."

"Fine," Lydia reached out for the keys, but her mom pulled them back.

"And lock up the basement," she said with a sour expression. "From all the scratch marks I found on the walls, it looked like a pack of wild animals got down there."

Lydia offered a cheesy smile and took the keys. When her mom walked away, Lydia and Kira exchanged nervous looks. Lydia sighed. _We're going to have to be a lot more careful._

* * *

Lydia and the rest of the pack met up during their free period. It was going to be a full moon that night, and now since Scott bit Liam, they were going to have two werewolves to try and contain at the Martin's lake house.

Malia was indignant at the idea of two werewolves being locked up in the same room. "I'm not sharing my basement."

Lydia raised her eyebrow at the werecoyote. "Actually, it's my basement. And my mom noticed how you tore it up last time."

Stiles put a hand on Malia's back, rubbing on it gently. "Alright, she's still learning."

"But," Scott spoke up. "We're going to use the boathouse for Liam. It's got support beams. We can chain him to one of them."

Kira looked at Scott. "But how do we get him out to the lake house if he doesn't trust us?"

"I say if it keeps him from murdering someone," Stiles replied, "we just chloroform the little b*****d and throw him in the lake."

Malia raised her hand. "I'm in," she said without hesitation. Stiles pointed at her undying support in an attempt to convince the others of his plan.

Scott sighed. "We're not killing or kidnapping him."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Then let's be smarter. We tell him there's a party and invite him."

Stiles raised his eyebrows and looked at Lydia. "So you're going to ask out a freshman?"

"No," Lydia thought to herself about the day before in the Walcott house with Deputy Parrish. There was something very appealing about an older guy like him. She looked back at Stiles, attempting to hide her smile. "I'm done with teenage boys."


	3. Chapter 3: Stranger

Summary: Jordan helps the Sheriff and Derek work to figure out the mystery of the man who killed the Walcott family while Lydia Martin hosts an accidental party at her family's lake house where someone ends up dead.

Based on episode 4x04

Music Inspiration: Stranger by X Ambassadors

* * *

Chapter 3: Stranger

Later that evening, Lydia walked through her family's lake house, the loud music making her angrier by the second. They didn't anticipate that when they invited Liam to a party at the lake house, he would invite his best friend Mason and every freshman at Beacon Hills High School. Upon entering the kitchen, she saw a man roll in a giant keg. She looked up at him in annoyance. "Okay, I didn't order a keg of beer." Lydia glanced down at the metal barrel. "Especially not domestic."

"Somebody ordered it," the man replied gruffly. "Are you trying to tell me nobody here wants to drink?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically, and when she did, she saw a wine glass sitting on her open laptop on the counter next to her. "Who put this here? This laptop is $2,000 and…" She noticed a boy with blond hair standing a couple feet away with an open bottle of wine. "That bottle of wine is $400," she said in a distraught voice.

She turned back to the man with the keg who was still waiting to be paid. She sighed. "How much?"

He whipped a short slip of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her.

Lydia glanced over the bill and grimaced. "What's this extra hundred dollars?"

The man, whose nametag read "Demarco," flashed her a smile that made her sick to her stomach. "I call that the 'yes, you do look twenty-one to me' surcharge." He winked at her for good measure.

She scoffed and set down the expensive wine, which she had been holding ever since she took it away from the blonde boy. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and when she looked up she saw Liam's friend, Mason, walking upstairs. _Oh crap! Where is he going? I can't have anyone else making a mess in this house!_

She turned to Demarco and held up a finger signaling "one minute" while backing out of the room. "Let me get you some cash."

Lydia followed Mason upstairs and down the hall into the open study. "What are you doing up here?" she asked, causing him to spin around at the distressed voice behind him. "The party's downstairs."

"I was looking for Liam," he said.

She let out a deep breath. "Sorry, but missing freshmen are a little low on my priority list."

She walked past him to pick up a couple of glasses on a side table. "But not so low you don't know he's a freshman?"

Lydia turned back around to face him with the two glasses in hand. "I might have seen your friend," she said, "downstairs." She grabbed Mason's arm to lead him out of the study, but in doing so the wine glasses were knocked out of her hand, falling on the carpet and spilling their contents all over the white carpet.

"Oh my god, the carpet!" she cried out. Tears now streaming from her eyes, she fell to her knees and began scrubbing the carpet with the hem of her cardigan.

Mason was now on his knees beside her. "Hey, it's alright. It'll come out." As she scrubbed more he continued. "I'm sorry. Was it valuable?"

"No," Lydia choked out. She struggled to speak through the tears in her throat. "That's the problem. Nothing in here's valuable." She took a shaky breath. "We just put the house on the market. It was supposed to be left without a scratch. It has to be in perfect condition. We need every penny we can get out of this place," she said as her eyes watered up once more.

With a quick nod, Mason gestured to the door. "Okay, let me go get some club soda and salt." He offered a small smile. "Lydia, it'll come out. It will."

She tried to smile as he stood up and left the room, letting the door close behind him. Lydia froze. The electronic music, which shook and echoed through the whole house, grew silent. Puzzled, she stood and walked over to the door, opening it slowly. The instant she did, the music resumed. She tested this several times before coming to a conclusion. _This room must be soundproof! But why?_

* * *

Jordan was sorting through paperwork on his desk when he noticed Derek Hale walk by and enter the Sheriff's office. Through the window he could see Sheriff Stilinski holding a tomahawk and a black glove with a keyboard on it. Out of curiosity he moved closer so he could listen to what they were saying.

"I still don't get how this guy has no mouth," the Sheriff commented as he picked up a device off the table. "I mean how – how can he eat?"

Derek looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Peter didn't get a chance to ask. He was fighting him off with a tomahawk buried in his chest."

"And – and who runs around with a tomahawk?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

 _I did. Maybe I can help them figure this out._

Jordan opened the door to his office. "I carried one for I.E.D. removal in Afghanistan," he said.

Derek and the Sheriff exchanged a curious look before staring back at Jordan. He continued. "It's military. And so is that," he said, pointing to the device in the Sheriff's hands.

"Do you know what it's used for?" Derek asked as Jordan stepped into the office for a closer look.

Jordan picked up the device, turning it in his hands to examine it. "Well, this one looks like it's been modified."

The Sheriff looked at Derek, who then nodded his approval, before closing the door to his office so they could speak more privately. "Show us."

"Can I use your computer?" Jordan asked the Sheriff. When he nodded Jordan walked around his desk and sat down, connecting the device with a black cable. He clacked away on the computer for several minutes. "Okay, I think I got an IP address."

The Sheriff leaned in for a closer look at the computer screen. "That means we can find him, right?"

"Definitely," Jordan started. "Especially if – "

He was interrupted by the sound of the device's fingers moving suddenly.

"What was that?" Derek asked, clearly unsettled by the development.

The laptop made a beeping sound, drawing Jordan's attention back to the screen. "I think I found a message. Does anyone recognize the handle 'Benefactor'?"

Derek came closer so he could look as well. "Money transferred. What does that mean?"

Sheriff Stilinski stood up straight and sighed. "That means this guy is not just a killer. He's an assassin."

"You mean someone paid him to murder the Walcott family?" Jordan was anxious at this news. _What if I hadn't been there yesterday when Lydia showed up at their house? What if the assassin had come to the house looking for Sean so he could finish the job? What if Lydia had been killed instead?_

Deputy Haigh burst into the room. "Sheriff, we just got a call you're going to want to hear about."

He sighed. "What is it, Haigh?"

"There's been another murder."

"Where?" Jordan asked, standing up quickly from the desk chair.

Haigh looked from the Sheriff back to Jordan before answering. "Natalie Martin's lake house."

Sheriff Stilinski grabbed his jacket off the hook and motioned for Jordan to do the same and follow him. Haigh walked into the main room of the Sheriff's department with them. The Sheriff turned to face him. "Who called it in?"

"A boy named Scott McCall."

 _Scott McCall? He's one of Lydia's friends! That means Lydia's there._

"Did he give us any details about what we're dealing with here?" the Sheriff asked.

"Just one," Haigh replied. "Apparently the victim was decapitated by some sort of thermo-cut wire."

Jordan felt his knees go weak. _I have to get there as soon as possible. I have to make sure Lydia's okay. She shouldn't have to deal with this much death and trauma. I signed up for it, she didn't._

"Parrish!" The Sheriff's voice calling his name brought him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, sir?" Jordan turned to face Sheriff Stilinski.

"The IP address came up as the high school so I'm going to investigate. You're in charge of this call. Take Haigh and Ramirez and get over to the Martin's lake house immediately. You got it?"

"Yes, sir." Jordan called out to the other deputies and rushed outside to his squad car. He held the steering wheel in a vice grip the whole way there.


	4. Chapter 4: Memorials

Summary: Jordan investigates the latest murder and Lydia works on cracking the code she transcribed.

Based on episodes 4x04 and 4x05

Music: Memorials by Laurel

* * *

Chapter 4: Memorials

Lydia glanced around the study and saw a record player sitting on a low table. She walked over to the device and reached down to place the needle on the record. _I wonder if this record player is connected to the reason the room is soundproofed?_

The second she turned it on she heard a warbling noise. Wide-eyed she listened more closely and decided the sounds were actually voices. She was so focused she barely noticed Kira enter the room.

"Lydia? Are you okay?" Kira had a worried expression on her face. She looked down at the record player. "What do you hear?"

"The key," Lydia replied without taking her eyes away from the wall behind the record player. "The key to break the code…Kira, can you grab my laptop from the kitchen counter?"

Kira nodded. "Sure." She left the room and ran downstairs, leaving Lydia alone in the study.

 _Am I hearing this right? Is this really the keyword? It doesn't make any sense. I didn't write this code so why should the key be connected to me? I mean, sure I transcribed it, but I didn't_ _ **write**_ _it._

Lydia turned at the sound of the door opening and took the laptop from Kira before sitting down at the study's desk. She pulled up the code on her computer and typed in the keyword: _Allison_. She took a deep breath and watched as the jumbled letters and numbers aligned into words.

Kira leaned down beside her. "What is this?"

"It's a list of supernaturals in Beacon Hills," Lydia replied as her eyes skimmed over the words. "It's a dead pool. And we're all on it."

* * *

Jordan pulled up to the Martin's lake house with the other two squad cars behind him. As soon as he stopped his car, he saw teenagers frantically running out of the house. He jumped out of his car and jogged up to the house. When he got closer, he could hear what the kids were yelling. "The cops are here; let's bail!"

Haigh and Ramirez ran up behind him and he gave them instructions to secure the perimeter of the house while he went inside. He kicked the door open, which was already cracked, and drew his gun. "Beacon County Sheriff's Department!" he shouted into the empty house. After receiving no response, he walked around the first level of the home, but didn't see anyone or anything suspicious. He called out again and this time he heard someone coming up the stairs from the basement. He pointed his gun at the basement door, ready to fire.

The door opened and two teenagers, clearly older than the others at the party, stepped out. He recognized one of the teens as the Sheriff's son, Stiles, who was holding a sizeable duffle bag in one hand. With him was a girl with tousled hair and covered in sweat. Jordan lowered his gun when he saw their shocked and confused looks. "Are you Lydia's friends?"

"Yeah," Stiles answered. "You're the deputy that found all the bodies at the Walcott house, aren't you?"

"I am," Jordan nodded and put his gun back in the holster. "Where's Lydia?"

Stiles looked at the girl with him before looking back at the deputy. "I have no idea. She should be here in the house."

Jordan felt something die inside of him. Stiles turned to the girl and handed her the bag. "Malia, take this out to the Jeep for me. I wanna help look for Lydia."

Just then, Jordan's radio started crackling. "Parrish, we found the body."

He picked up the device with a shaking hand and pushed down the call button. "Haigh, where is it?"

"In the road across the street from the house."

Jordan ran back out of the house and crossed the street to where the other deputies were standing. Looking down he wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. The body was that of a man, probably in his early forties. Like the call said, the man's head was completely severed from his body. _Is this the work of an assassin too?_

The sound of a car starting up in the driveway made him jerk his head around. He finally let out the breath he'd been holding at the sight of Lydia standing on the front porch with her friends. "I'll be right back," he announced to his fellow deputies before walking over to the house.

When he got closer, he could see that her eye makeup was smudged and the lipstick was completely gone from her mouth. Her eyes were bloodshot like she had been crying. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

She offered a weak smile. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

Jordan got another call. This time it was Sheriff Stilinski. "Parrish, we need you at the high school as fast as you can get here."

He gave Lydia a goodbye nod and a smile before walking quickly to his car. "What's going on? Do I need backup?"

"No, we need you to diffuse a bomb."

Fifteen minutes later Jordan entered the school wearing his bomb disposal gear with his helmet in hand. When he approached the location of the bomb, he froze at the sight of a mutilated body on the floor.

"That's the man who murdered the Walcott family," the Sheriff said. Jordan looked up and saw him standing a few feet away by a closet. "We – uh," the Sheriff hesitated. "We found him like that."

Jordan walked closer and looked at the door, then back at Sheriff Stilinski. "Is that where the bomb is?"

The Sheriff nodded. "It's a Claymore mine. That's about all I can tell you."

Jordan managed to disengage the explosive quickly and removed it from the closet. "I'm afraid there could be another assassin," he said as he walked out of the school with the Sheriff. "The man who was killed at the lake house seems to have been killed by another person. The style of weapon was completely different and I find it hard to believe this same guy killed Demarco Montana and set up those explosives in the same night. There just wasn't enough time."

The Sheriff nodded. "And I'm afraid you're right. Now the question is why and how are these assassins being paid to do this?"

* * *

By Sunday evening another person had been murdered. A young girl named Carrie was killed in a similar way to Demarco. Scott, Stiles, and Lydia went to the Sheriff's station to tell Sheriff Stilinski everything they knew about the deadpool. As soon as they entered the room and closed the door, Scott handed the Sheriff the list, which Lydia had now printed off her laptop.

"What is this?" the Sheriff asked.

"It's a list of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills," Scott replied.

"A deadpool," Stiles added.

The Sheriff shook his head. "How did you even get a hold of this?"

"I wrote it," Lydia said. After noticing the look on the Sheriff's face she clarified. "Well, I transcribed it…without realizing it."

"Banshee?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lydia pressed her lips together and sighed. "Yeah…"

Sheriff Stilinski nodded, resigning himself to the idea. "Beautiful."

"But," Scott said. "We've only broken a third of the list. Each third requires a different cipher key, which Lydia is working on figuring out."

The Sheriff looked at the list carefully before looking back up at them. "How many werewolves, kitsunes, nogitsunes, and whatever the hell elses are there out there? I mean, what if the next cipher key reveals not twelve names, but a hundred?"

"See," Stiles said, "we don't think that will happen because of the numbers. The numbers next to each name are how much each person is worth. We believe once the entire list has been revealed all the numbers will add up to one hundred seventeen million: the amount stolen from the Hale vault."

Sheriff Stilinski placed both hands on his desk and leaned against with a sigh. "Do your best to figure out those cipher keys. And I guess in the meantime, I'll have Parrish put these other names in the computer and see what he can find out."

Scott, Stiles, and Lydia walked out of the Sheriff's station. On their way out, they passed by the deputies' desks. Lydia glanced up and saw Jordan sitting at his desk working on paperwork. When he happened to look up, she offered him a small smile, which he was quick to reciprocate.

As soon as they were out the door, the Sheriff walked up to Jordan and handed him the list of names. "I need you to run these last three names through the system and see what you can find out."

"Yes, sir," Jordan replied, taking the sheet of paper from his hands.

Scanning over the list he nearly jumped out of his seat. Half the people on the list had just been murdered, and those who hadn't included Derek Hale, Scott McCall, and _Lydia Martin._

 _Lydia's on an assassin's hit list?!_


	5. Chapter 5: Eyes Shut

Summary: Lydia struggles to crack the second cipher key until she gets help from another banshee.

Based on episode 4x05

Music: Eyes Shut by Years & Years

* * *

Chapter 5: Eyes Shut

Lydia and Malia went to the art room during their free period. They still needed to crack the second cipher key and Lydia wasn't making any progress listening to the record player in the lake house study. Since drawing had been an outlet for her banshee powers to work through before, she thought maybe it could help her figure out the next cipher key.

She sat down at an easel, pencil in hand, and tried to feel something she didn't quite understand. Repeatedly putting the pencil tip to the paper, she hoped to be able to trigger her powers. It wasn't helping that Malia was staring over her shoulder constantly. She let out a puff of air. "Please stop hovering."

"I'm not hovering, I'm waiting," Malia replied. "Draw something. Write something. We need to know who else is on that list."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "You mean, you need to know if you're on the list."

"If someone's coming to take my head off, then, yeah, I'd like to know."

After taking a deep breath, Lydia put the pencil to the paper once more. She could feel Malia moving closer and her nervous, shallow breaths tickled her neck. "Can you please just sit down?" Lydia fussed at her. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry." Malia quickly relocated to the table next to her and sat down with her textbooks in front of her.

Lydia closed her eyes and pressed the tip of her pencil against the sketchpad. Just as she thought she was starting to feel something, she was interrupted by Malia saying her name.

"What?" Lydia snapped. Malia didn't respond. "Oh my gosh, what?"

Malia turned to look up at Lydia. "Maybe we need help," she paused before finishing her thought, "from another banshee."

Lydia thought back to the young woman from Eichen House they had met a couple months ago. "Eichen House says Meredith can't have visitors without permission from a family member."

"That's not gonna be easy since her whole family is dead," Malia stated.

"Perfect," Lydia said as she threw her hands up in resignation.

"Okay, then maybe we could go to the music room?" Malia asked.

Lydia raised her eyebrows. "I'm not going to pluck piano strings for two hours waiting for some supernatural inspiration."

"Fine. What else do banshees do?"

Lydia scoffed. "You think I know? I can't just turn this on. I'm not like you guys. I don't have claws, or glowing eyes, or super senses. I just have voices in my head." She sighed. "And I'm not sure what else to do."

* * *

Jordan was out on patrol that evening when he saw something unusual. A young woman wearing grungy clothes was walking by the side of the road. He pulled over and got out of his car.

"Good evening," he called out to her.

No response. She simply stared at him blankly.

"Are you alright?" he asked, this time trying to use a softer voice.

She managed to nod at him this time.

Jordan offered a small smile. "What's your name?"

"Mer-Meredith," she said.

"Well, Meredith, my name is Deputy Jordan Parrish. It's nice to meet you," he said sweetly. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I'm looking for Lydia," she replied. "I was going to the high school to see her."

Jordan froze. "Lydia Martin?"

Meredith nodded. "I need to see Lydia."

"But it's awfully chilly outside tonight. You know, I'm a friend of hers. Can I give you a ride? I promise I don't bite." He smiled again.

Meredith smiled slightly and nodded. He helped her get in the car and drove her back into town. She looked like she had escaped from Eichen House or somewhere like that so he decided to take her to the Sheriff's Station. Upon arrival he led her inside and had her sit down on a bench while he talked to the Sheriff.

Sheriff Stilinski was on his way out of the office to go to his son's lacrosse game when Jordan stopped him. "Sheriff, I know you're in a hurry, but I was out on patrol and I found someone walking from the coast to the high school."

The Sheriff looked perplexed. "That's gotta be at least fifteen miles."

"She seemed pretty determined," he said.

Jordan and the Sheriff both turned to look in her direction. She saw them watching her and repeated her mission. "I'm looking for Lydia. I need to talk to Lydia."

* * *

Lydia heard her phone going off and dug it out of her purse. The Sheriff was calling. _Oh my gosh what's happened now!_ She answered the phone and held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Lydia, can you come down to the station right now?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" All she could think was: _who's dead now?_

"Meredith Walker is here and she wants to speak with you. She escaped from Eichen and was walking fifteen miles to the high school when Parrish found her."

"Are you serious?" Lydia asked, trying to hide her excitement. "I'm on my way!"

Malia was still with her and asked what the phone call was all about. They had been sitting in Lydia's living room for an hour trying to think of ways to trigger a banshee revelation, to no avail.

"Meredith escaped from Eichen," Lydia said.

"What?" Malia sat bolt upright on the couch. "No way."

"It gets better. She's at the Sheriff's Station right now!"

Malia grabbed Lydia's arm and pulled her up out of the armchair. "Well, come on then! What are we waiting around here for?"

Sheriff Stilinski met the girls at the door and led them back to his office where Meredith was waiting for them. "I'm aware this is probably about the deadpool, but I can't let her leave the station. And, in a minute, I'm gonna have to call Eichen House and let them know that she's here."

Lydia looked up at him desperately. "Can you give us an hour?"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You got fifteen minutes."

Lydia nodded reluctantly and the two girls entered the Sheriff's office. Before he could go in and close the door, Jordan walked up. "You called Lydia?" he said with a surprised expression on his face.

"Yeah," the Sheriff nodded.

"Because Meredith asked for her or because of the other thing?" he asked.

Now it was the Sheriff's turn to be confused. "What other thing?"

Jordan looked around to make sure no one was listening in before answering. "The psychic thing."

"You think Lydia's psychic?"

"Do you?" Jordan asked.

The Sheriff fumbled around for an answer. "No, I do not. I think that she is, uh…intuitive."

"That's what they used to call psychics," Jordan said with a slight smile. "Intuitionists."

Sheriff Stilinski sighed and mumbled, "Yeah, and I used to call myself a rational human being." He motioned with his arm for Jordan to come in and spoke louder. "Get in here and shut the door."

Jordan quickly did as he was told and moved to the back of the room where he would be out of the way. The Sheriff gestured with his hand and told Lydia to go ahead and ask what she needed to.

Lydia held out her phone to Meredith who hesitated before taking it in her own hands. "Meredith, aren't you going to answer it?"

Meredith looked down at the phone curiously then stood up to whisper in Lydia's ear. "It's not ringing."

 _Well, great. Now what am I supposed to do?_

Once Meredith sat back down, Lydia got down on her knees so she could be closer to eye level with her. "Meredith, you came here to help us, remember?"

Meredith smiled down at her. "You called me."

Lydia looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean I called you?"

"I heard you," she whispered.

Lydia noticed Jordan step closer out of the corner of her eyes. "Meredith, can I ask you a question?"

Meredith looked up at him then smiled and nodded.

He knelt down next to Lydia so he could also be at eye level with Meredith. "When you need help, when you need to find something, is there someone you reach out to? Maybe someone you call?"

Lydia looked at him in interest. _How is he so sweet and patient with her? I'm the one who's actually a banshee like her and I can't seem to have_ _ **one**_ _conversation with her without exploding._

Meredith thought for a moment. "It depends. Different people for different things."

"So maybe there's a number that can help us?" Jordan asked. "Someone we can call?"

"Yes," she nodded and smiled.

Jordan smiled back. "Would you be okay telling us?"

"Yes," Meredith said as Lydia grabbed her phone back. "It's two…four…three…six."

After a moment of silence, Malia spoke up for the first time. "Mer, we need a few more numbers."

"No," she shook her head. "That's the number."

"Phone numbers are ten digits," Malia stated.

Meredith shook her head again. "That's the number."

Lydia was beginning to get upset again. She had to figure it out; everyone was depending on her. People's lives depended on her cracking the code. "Meredith, phone numbers always have ten digits."

Meredith repeated her statement. "That's the number."

"Meredith –" Lydia started, but the Sheriff interrupted her.

"Lydia, hey, come here," he said. "I think that's the best we're gonna get."

She shook her head. "No, there has to be more." She was getting angry by this point. _Why can't Meredith just cooperate?!_ "What's the rest of it, Meredith?" No response. "Just concentrate!" Lydia shouted.

Meredith just kept repeating, "that's the number." When Sheriff Stilinski tried to calm her down, she yelled the phrase in his face.

Once she finally calmed down a little, Jordan and the Sheriff took her out into the main room of the station and called Eichen House. Malia and Lydia remained in the Sheriff's office, still puzzling over the situation. Lydia sat at the desk with her head in her hands while Malia paced back and forth.

Lydia was angry with herself for letting her frustrations get the best of her. _Why can't I be patient like Deputy Parrish? She's the only other banshee I know and I keep driving her away. But this still just doesn't make any sense. How can this be the number?_

"Lydia?" Malia started, shaking Lydia from her thoughts. "What if it's like Algebra?"

"What do you mean?" Lydia looked up at her in confusion. Math certainly wasn't one of Malia's strong suits.

She grabbed the desk phone and spun it around so Lydia could see. "What if the numbers are actually letters?"

 _Could it really be that simple?_ Lydia fumbled around for a notepad and pen. She wrote down all the letters for each number in order. "Oh, God," she said in barely more than a whisper and circled letters to spell a name. Lydia whipped out her laptop and typed in the name: Aiden. With a deep breath in, she pressed enter and watched the code unravel before her eyes.

She scanned through the list and felt her heart stop at the last name.

 _Jordan Parrish: worth five million._


	6. Chapter 6: Unconsolable

Summary: Jordan gives Malia and Lydia a ride home from the Sheriff's Station, but when he gets an unexpected call will he end up in over his head?

Based on episodes 4x05 and 4x06

Music: Unconsolable by X Ambassadors

* * *

Chapter 6: Unconsolable

Jordan saw Malia step out of the Sheriff's office and walk outside to the parking lot. He looked over and saw Lydia still sitting in the empty room alone. Her back was to him, but he thought he detected anxious body language. Walking over to the office, he pushed open the door, causing her to whip her head around and slam her laptop closed. Lydia looked as though she'd just seen a ghost.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was just seeing if you were okay?"

She nodded, seeming to relax slightly. He searched her face for more explanation, but didn't receive any. "You need a ride home?"

Lydia started to say no when an out of breath Malia ran up to the open door and leaned against the frame. "Car…flat tire." She took a few deep breaths before speaking again. "I went to get my phone from the car, but when I got out there I noticed your front tire on the driver's side is completely flat."

Jordan looked back at Lydia and couldn't resist smiling at the timing of it all. "I'll take that as a yes."

"You sure you don't mind?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Not one bit. Are you ready to go now?"

Lydia nodded, packed her laptop back into its case, and grabbed her purse while Jordan slipped on his jacket from the coatrack.

* * *

As he led the way out of the Sheriff's Station, Lydia grabbed Malia at the elbow. "Don't say anything to him about the deadpool," she whispered into Malia's ear. "Not yet."

Malia looked at her in confusion. "He already knows about it. Stiles' dad has him doing background checks on the people who are still, you know, alive."

"No," Lydia said. "I mean about the fact he's on it. According to the deadpool, he's worth almost as much as Kira. And we don't even know what he is. I think we need to tell the others before we show him."

Malia nodded. "Good idea."

When they caught up to Jordan beside his squad car, he turned to look at them and smiled. "At least one of you is going to have to sit in the back."

Malia and Lydia looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Lydia bit her lip and tried to pretend she didn't care one way or the other. _I really hope Malia volunteers._

Malia smirked and raised her hand. "I'll take the back. I barely got three hours of sleep last night cause I was studying for the Math test." She shrugged. "Maybe I can take a nap."

Jordan let Malia into the backseat of the car before opening the front door for Lydia. As he sat down in the driver's seat he asked Lydia where they were going. "We should drop Malia off first. Her dad's more likely to worry if she's out late," Lydia said, trying to keep her voice down so Malia wouldn't hear. This was kind of true, but Malia undoubtedly would disagree and make a fuss if she heard.

He pulled out of the parking lot and drove where Lydia told him. By the time they were five minutes down the road, Malia was already sound asleep in the backseat. Jordan looked over at Lydia and watched her facial expressions carefully. "Lydia, can I ask you about something?"

She took a nervous breath and nodded. "Sure, what is it?"

Jordan shifted slightly in his seat before saying what was on his mind. "The Sheriff had me running names through the computer the other day, and I ran across something strange." He hesitated, glancing over at her. "I saw your name on a list along with the names of several of your friends and _six_ people who have just been _murdered_ by professional assassins. Do you know what that's all about? I mean it looked like some sort of hit list."

 _It's called a deadpool. But I can't tell him, not yet. I need to talk to Scott and Stiles about it first. They'll know what we should do._

Lydia pretended to be ignorant and completely unaware of this information. "What are you talking about? Why would I be on a hit list?"

He scanned her face before looking back at the road. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"It's not that I don't believe you – " she started.

"No, I'm sure you're right. It's probably nothing," he said quickly.

They pulled up to the Tate house as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Jordan hopped out of the driver's seat and opened the backseat door for Malia. He had to gently shake her by the shoulder to wake her. Given her groggy state, he ended up walking her to the front door.

The stress and tension in Jordan's face killed her every time she caught a glimpse of him. _He knows something's up. And I'm sure he knows I'm lying to him._ _I have to talk to Scott as soon as possible, but he's at the school for the lacrosse game…_ Lydia glanced at the clock. _The game should be over_ _in about ten or fifteen minutes. If Deputy Parrish will drive me there instead, I can go ahead and talk to the others._

She saw Jordan walking back towards the car and took a deep breath to prepare herself. He sat down in the car once more and looked at her with his piercing green eyes. "Where to now?"

"Do you think you can actually take me to the high school instead? My friends just had their first lacrosse game of the season tonight, and I'd like to see them afterwards."

He nodded and put the car in gear. "Yeah, I can do that." He paused. "But aren't they her friends too?" he asked, pointing his head towards the house to indicate Malia.

"Yeah, her boyfriend is actually on the team," Lydia replied. "But from the look of things she needs to go to bed early anyway. And honestly, she couldn't care less about lacrosse."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "What about _your_ boyfriend?" he asked without taking his eyes off the road. "Is he on the team too?"

She struggled to keep from giggling. "No, I don't have a boyfriend."

Lydia thought she saw a faint smile spread across his lips. "Sorry," he muttered.

They were about three minutes away from the school when a call came in over Jordan's radio. Lydia barely understood the code words and abbreviations that were used. He picked up the handheld and responded with, "On my way."

She scanned his face curiously. "What was that about?"

"They need me to get to the high school as soon as possible." He glanced over at her. "There's been an attempted murder and they caught one of the assassins."

 _Stiles was right. The assassin must be on the lacrosse team! Thank God he said "attempted murder." I hope everyone's alright._

* * *

When Jordan and Lydia pulled up to the school, they both immediately jumped out of the car and rushed into the building. Jordan darted into the boys' locker room where several deputies were already gathered and Lydia ran over to Scott and Liam.

"Is everyone okay?" Lydia asked nervously.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, we're okay. Violet and Garrett went after Brett to lure me into the locker room. She tried to kill me, but I'm okay. Not even a scratch."

Lydia let out a sigh of relief. Looking around, she saw Jordan walking back down the hall towards them with a vice grip on a handcuffed and angry Violet. Lydia tensed up all over again as she saw Violet looking Jordan up and down before fixating on his nametag. Then she heard Violet speak. " _Jordan_ Parrish?"

" _Deputy_ Parrish," he corrected her.

Lydia's hands were balled up into fists at her sides. _You stay away from him. I don't care what kind of supernatural creature he is; I'm not gonna let you or your dumb boyfriend hurt him._

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye as Scott's father, an FBI agent named Rafael, walked up to the Sheriff. His eyes were fixed on the item in Sheriff Stilinski's hands. "What is that? Is that the weapon?"

"Yeah," the Sheriff replied and turned the evidence bag over in his hands to look at it better. "It's a thermo-cut wire disguised as a necklace."

Agent McCall grew wide-eyed and called out to Jordan. "Parrish, hold up!"

Lydia watched from a short distance down the hall as Jordan stopped so Agent McCall and the Sheriff could catch up to them. Agent McCall looked at Violet carefully. "Thermo-cut wire's a very unusual weapon, Violet. Now, we've got a file at the Bureau on something similar that was used in over a dozen murders."

Jordan looked over at Violet only to see a smug smile on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about," she responded. "I just go to school here."

"Maybe we should call your parents then," Agent McCall suggested. "Oh, no…that's right. You don't have any parents."

Violet's face fell and she glared at him with clenched teeth and furrowed brows.

"That's why they call you The Orphans," he explained. "Parrish, take her away."

Jordan walked her out to his squad car to be locked up at the Sheriff's Station. Lydia looked over at Scott anxiously. _Did Deputy Parrish just walk out of here with a professional assassin?_


	7. Chapter 7: War of Hearts

Summary: Lydia, Scott, and Stiles debate telling Jordan he's on the deadpool.

Based on episode 4x06

Music: War of Hearts by Ruelle

* * *

Chapter 7: War of Hearts

"Scott, we have to tell him. We have to tell him his name's on the deadpool."

Scott, Lydia, and Stiles were standing outside the school by Stiles' Jeep. It hadn't been more than ten minutes since Jordan left the school with Violet, and Lydia was freaking out.

"Are we sure that's really such a good idea?" Stiles asked. "I mean we don't even know what he is. Doesn't that scare you?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Garrett's still out there and I'm sure he's furious they missed their target tonight."

"Lydia's right," Scott said. "What if telling him saves his life? If we don't tell him and he dies, it's gonna be on our hands."

"But – but what if he's something evil? Or possessed?" Stiles whined.

Lydia raised an eyebrow at him and folded her arms across her chest. "You mean kind of like how you were possessed by an evil spirit? Should we have let you die?"

"I didn't mean – "

Tears began welling up in her eyes and her voice cracked. "Allison died. And I wasn't with her because I didn't want to leave you behind. I could have; it was all your fault anyways. Maybe I _should_ have just left you behind in that tunnel!"

"Lydia," Scott reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

She swatted him away. "No, don't touch me! Just leave me alone." Sobbing now she ran back into the school and sat down against the wall in the girls' locker room. _I can't lose anyone else._

The next day at school, Lydia avoided Scott and especially Stiles. She couldn't forgive herself for what she said to him. _It wasn't really his fault. You shouldn't have said that, Lydia. Now he'll never want to speak to you again. And what am I gonna do about telling Parrish? He needs to know…_

After her last class of the day, Lydia was putting her textbooks in her locker when someone walked up beside her. "You were right, Lydia."

She closed her locker to see Stiles standing there, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry…about everything. You know I have a hard time trusting people. Scott – Scott's so trusting of everyone. He sees the best in people, even when they don't deserve it. And one of these days I'm afraid it's going to get him into trouble." He paused and finally looked up at her. "That's why I have trust issues; someone has to doubt people for Scott's own good. And I don't know much about this deputy besides what my dad has mentioned from the Oni attack on the station. But if you think we should tell him, I'm all for it. I may not trust him yet, but I trust _you_."

Lydia smiled and gently grabbed a hold of his hand, giving it a squeeze. "Thank you, Stiles." She hesitated. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said what I did. I didn't really mean it; I was just upset at the possibility of losing someone else I – " She decided not to finish her sentence. "Anyways, when should we tell him?"

"How does now work for you?"

* * *

Jordan stared at the list of names given to him by the Sheriff, still dumfounded by the presence of one name: Lydia Martin. _Why is her name on this list? And what's with the number twenty beside her name? It's not her age. I don't know what else it could be. Unless…_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Lydia and Stiles entering the Sheriff's Station. The slip of paper fell back on his desk as he jumped up and walked over to them. He led them into Sheriff Stilinski's office and turned to Stiles. "Your dad should be back within the hour. You want to wait here in his office?"

"Actually," Stiles said. "We want to talk to you."

"Privately," Lydia added.

 _Why couldn't you have come alone then?_ He swallowed nervously. _Jordan, get ahold of yourself! Now isn't the time or place for thoughts like that. And besides, she's too young for you…isn't she?_

Jordan nodded and moved to close the door. After glancing at Lydia, Stiles held out a piece of folded paper similar to the one Jordan had just been looking over. Jordan read over the list, names followed by numbers, and looked up at them. "So this _is_ a hit list?"

"We call it a deadpool," Stiles replied. "Recognize any of the names?"

"Yeah," Jordan nodded. "The Sheriff had me run a bunch of these through the system last night. But we couldn't find any of them."

Stiles looked at Lydia once again. "Show him the other thing."

 _Other thing? What other thing? I feel like I should be concerned now._

Lydia took a shallow breath and reached for the piece of paper in his grasp. Her hands were visibly shaking, and Jordan wished there was something he could do to calm her. She flipped the paper over and pointed to the first and only name on that side.

Jordan froze at the sight of his own name before standing from his position leaning against the desk. "Okay," he said. "That's kind of terrifying." He saw the number beside his name: five. "What's the number?" he asked.

"That's…how much you're worth," Lydia said slowly.

He looked at them curiously. "I'm worth _five_ dollars?"

"Five million," Stiles said, holding up his hand with all fingers out for emphasis.

Jordan furrowed his brows. "I only make forty thousand a year." He glanced back down at the list and smirked slightly. "Maybe I should kill myself." Then his expression turned serious once more. "I don't get it. Why…why am I on this?"

Stiles and Lydia looked at each other nervously. "Honestly," Stiles started, "that might be a question for another day. Right now, there's still another third of the list we gotta crack."

"We need the third cipher key," Lydia added. "But we need help getting it."

"From who?" Jordan was almost afraid to ask. Part of him knew the answer even before she gave it.

"Meredith…"

Jordan raised his eyebrows. "The girl from Eichen?" He walked to the door so he could let them out. "The last time you saw her, you almost gave her a nervous breakdown."

"Uh – almost," Lydia insisted.

Stiles closed his eyes and sighed dramatically, clearly aware she wasn't helping their case. Jordan almost laughed at her friend's reaction. "Let me think about it." He nodded with his head for them to leave and smiled. "Your dad will be back any minute and I don't want him thinking we're up to something we shouldn't be."

Stiles nodded with a slight smile and walked out, quickly followed by Lydia. Jordan grabbed her arm on her way out. "Can we talk?" he whispered. "I can drive you home after."

"Yeah," she said in a hushed voice. Lydia walked over to Stiles and told him to go on without her. After that Jordan couldn't make out what they were saying, but judging by Stiles' suspicious glances and his body language, he wasn't happy about it.

A minute later, Stiles nodded and left, but not before glaring in Jordan's direction. Jordan motioned for Lydia to go inside an empty office and closed the door halfway. She glanced at the opening before looking him in the eyes. "Why'd you leave it half open?"

"People talk," he glanced away nervously. "Let's not give them anything to talk about."

Lydia nodded and Jordan thought her cheeks looked flushed all of a sudden. "So," she cleared her throat. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Jordan leaned against the desk and tapped his fingers on its surface. He stopped when he noticed her annoyed expression. "I saw the first third of the list, Lydia."

She shifted uncomfortably and looked away. He took a deep breath. "Why'd you lie to me?" When she didn't respond he continued. "You know, I remember the number next to your name. I know you're worth four times what I am. I have no idea why or why we're even on the list to start with." He looked deeply into her eyes and struggled to maintain his composure as his voice cracked slightly. "How long were you going to let me believe your life isn't seriously in danger?"

Lydia bit her lip as tears rolled down her face. "I don't know."


	8. Chapter 8: Fear On Fire

Summary: Lydia and Stiles need Jordan's help to see Meredith Walker once again.

Based on episode 4x06

Music: Fear on Fire by Ruelle

* * *

Chapter 8: Fear On Fire

Lydia stared out the window as Jordan drove her home. She couldn't bear to look at him because of the evident hurt in his eyes. _I couldn't tell you the truth. Why can't you understand that? That I didn't want you caught up in this mess? That the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you? I thought I was saving you…_

After pulling into her driveway, Jordan turned off his car and turned to face her. He sighed. "Honestly, I'm not mad at you; I'm worried for your safety and upset that you didn't tell me about this sooner. Lydia, this is my job: protecting people." He looked at her with a tender expression. "I want to keep you safe, but I can't do that if you're not honest with me about the kind of danger you're in."

"I'm not worried about being in danger," Lydia said with a sigh. "All that matters right now is figuring out the final cipher key."

Jordan got out of the car and walked around to open her door. He walked her to her door and said, "Goodnight."

Lydia started to open the front door when he stopped her by grabbing her wrist. "Wait," he sighed, "what can I do to help?"

She looked him in the eyes but didn't say a word. He released her arm and took a deep breath, seeming to catch her meaning. "Meredith," he said. "You think she can help you figure out the key?"

"I know she can."

Jordan nodded. "Okay, then. I'll see what I can do."

* * *

The next day after school, Jordan took Lydia and Stiles to Eichen House to talk to Meredith. Jordan walked up to the front desk and asked to see Meredith Walker, but the orderly simply glared at him.

"Ms. Walker isn't allowed to have visitors."

Jordan glanced over at Lydia and, upon seeing her distressed expression, pulled his jacket back so his badge was clearly visible. "It's important police business that we see her _now_."

The orderly's eyes grew wide and he jumped up, grabbing his key ring off a nearby hook. "Follow me," he said.

They followed the man down several hallways before stopping at a nondescript door with a number on it. As the orderly was unlocking the door, another Eichen House worker approached them.

Stiles groaned at the sight of the man. "Oh, no, not this guy."

Jordan turned to look at the man, who walked up with a sour look on his face and said, "What the hell are we running here?" He took the key ring from the orderly. "A bed and breakfast? We do not just open the door for anyone with a badge."

"We need to talk to Meredith Walker," Jordan spoke up. "It involves a murder investigation."

The man scowled at him. "Well, _you_ can talk to her all you want, but these two, especially _that_ one…" he pointed to Stiles, "they're outta here."

Jordan was beginning to get angry and his brain was muddling everything together. "They're crucial witnesses in an ongoing investigation. I wouldn't have brought them here if it wasn't absolutely…" he hesitated, "crucial."

 _Nice going, Jordan. Real smooth. I bet that really won him over._ Looking away slightly Jordan caught the orderly's name as "Brunski."

"Okay, Deputy," Brunski said, stepping uncomfortably close for such a cross looking man. "How about you come back with a court order, then I'll listen."

Jordan stole a glance at Lydia, whose eyes were tearing up and hands visibly shaking from the stress. _This guy is going down._

Brunski walked over to Stiles. "As for you, Mr. Stilinski, how about you come back with payment in full." Stiles shifted nervously. "That's right. Daddy may be the Sheriff, but he's late on the bills. I guess those government jobs aren't as reliable as they used to be, huh?"

Jordan folded his arms across his chest. "But they do help when you need a favor."

Now he had Brunski's full attention. "Like, how a month ago," Jordan started. "Canaan P.D. helped you get home after blowing a point one on a breathalyzer."

Looking over, Jordan saw Lydia and Stiles' shocked expressions. Brunski was trying hard to maintain his usual gruff and witty demeanor, but was clearly shaken. "Alright, I'm not against a little quid pro quo. Not at all," Brunski shoved the keys into Stiles' hands.

As Brunski walked away, Stiles looked at Jordan and grabbed his shoulder, pointing in his face. "You. You, I like you," he handed Jordan the keys. "I'm gonna keep you."

Jordan noticed Lydia genuinely smiling when he walked by her to open the door. _Good, I'm glad she's smiling now. I hope her faith in Meredith isn't sorely misplaced._

When they walked in, Jordan saw Meredith sitting on her bed. Lydia and Stiles sat down on the spare bed across from her while Jordan stood by the door.

Lydia looked at Meredith. "Okay, Meredith, do you think you can help us with the last cipher key?"

She looked suddenly sad and shook her head. "No, I can't tell you."

"Meredith, what do you mean you can't tell us?"

Stiles leaned forward. "We just need the third key. You can give it to us in numbers, letters, hieroglyphs. Whatever you want."

She shook her head again. "I can't.

Lydia scoffed. "Then why did you give us the second key?"

"I wanted to help," Meredith said. "That's what I want to do. I want to help."

"Great!" Lydia exclaimed. "So help us now. Okay? Give us the third cipher key."

Meredith shook her head again. "Things have changed. I – I can't."

"Why not?" Stiles asked.

Jordan stepped in closer and spoke up. "Guys, go easy on her."

"I'm sorry," Meredith said. "I can't. He…he doesn't want me to."

Stiles furrowed his brows. "He? Who's he?"

"Meredith," Lydia said, "who doesn't want you to tell us the third cipher key?"

"The Benefactor."

 _What?! This young woman in Eichen House personally knows The Benefactor? The one person we've been trying to figure out who they are?_

Lydia stood up quickly. "What's his name?" Meredith shook her head. "You could just tell us his name."

"Okay, you're shaking your head," Stiles said. "What does that mean? Does that mean you don't know? Or you don't want to help us?"

"I – I can't…" Meredith stammered. "I can't help anymore."

"How do you know about him?" Lydia asked.

Meredith started shaking her head violently and whimpering quietly. Jordan stepped closer. "Guys, I think we better stop."

Lydia seemed to be ignoring him and raised her voice. "Meredith, a lot of people are going to die if you don't tell us."

Meredith repeatedly muttered, "I don't know, please."

Jordan stepped closer still. "Meredith, it's okay. You're gonna be alright."

The more he tried to soothe her, the more frantic she got until finally she screamed "I don't know" at the top of her lungs. Lydia grabbed the sides of her head and jerked backwards onto the bed. Stiles held onto her and tilted her head to look at her ears when Lydia removed her hands.

Jordan froze when he saw blood trickling down Lydia's neck from her ears. He thought he could even see her crying. _Did Meredith's scream just do that? Make her ears literally bleed? How is that even possible? Is she okay?_

He knelt down in front of her and searched her face. "Lydia? Are you alright?"

Lydia bit her lower lip, nodding slightly. Her eyes were bloodshot and wet with fresh tears. Jordan gently gave her knee a comforting squeeze before standing back up. He looked over at Meredith. She was sitting on her bed with her knees pulled up against her chest, rocking erratically and mumbling to herself.

"We should get out of here."

* * *

Several hours later Lydia and Stiles were in his room trying to crack the remainder of the list, with no external banshee insight. Lydia sat at his desk in front of her computer while Stiles paced the room frantically in thought.

"Okay, well, we know one thing," he said. "Both of the first two keys, Allison and Aiden, they're both names of the dead. Right?"

Lydia sighed. "But we've already tried every other dead person's name we could think of…and if you haven't noticed, there were a lot of tries."

"Yeah, I noticed."

Lydia could still feel the power of Meredith's scream. _What if I just pushed her to the point of no return? What if I just ruined her life because I couldn't be patient enough?_

The sound of Stiles' voice pulled her from her thoughts. "You okay?"

She looked up at him. "The only other banshee I've ever met," she said sadly. "And I think I might have just driven her over the edge."

"Lydia, it wasn't your fault. I was there too. And you're probably not the only…" Stiles drifted off.

She searched his face carefully before he spoke again. "Hold on. Banshees predict death, right? So what if the third key is someone who isn't dead…"

"But will be," Lydia finished his sentence.

She stretched her fingers out across the keyboard of her laptop and closed her eyes. After a minute she had a strange feeling and she could tell she was typing something. Once her fingers stopped moving, she opened her eyes slowly.

Stiles gave her a concerned look after he read the name: _Derek_. Lydia pressed the enter key and watched the list unfold. Her eyes scanned down the list until they stopped on a name.

 _Meredith Walker, worth one million dollars._

Lydia tapped on Stiles' arm anxiously. "Call Parrish. We need to call Parrish."

The second the phone started ringing Lydia grabbed it from his hands. She barely gave Jordan a chance to say hello when he answered.

"Parrish? It's Lydia. We broke the remainder of the list. Meredith's on it. We need to send someone to Eichen House. We need to make sure she'll be safe."

After a moment of silence on the other end of the line she heard his voice. "We don't need to worry about that."

"What are you talking about?"

She could hear him sigh and hesitate before speaking. "Lydia, Meredith's gone."


	9. Chapter 9: Raise the Dead

Summary: Lydia struggles to cope with Meredith's death in the midst of a new danger threatening the pack at the high school.

Based on episodes 4x06 and 4x07

Music: Raise the Dead by Rachel Rabin

* * *

Chapter 9: Raise The Dead

"Lydia, Meredith's gone. They found her an hour ago in her room. She hung herself…I'm sorry."

Lydia froze and dropped her phone. Stiles pulled her into an awkward hug and she could hear Jordan saying her name through the small speakers, not knowing why she wasn't responding. She collapsed in the floor and Stiles picked up the phone, telling Jordan she couldn't talk anymore. He hung up the phone and tried to hold her again, but she pulled away, too upset to be around anyone.

Lydia ran down the hall into the bathroom and locked the door. She closed the toilet lid and sat down, sobbing into a wad of toilet paper. Her chest burned as she struggled to breathe through her tears. After a minute, she heard quiet knocking on the door. "Lydia, are you okay? Is there anything I can do?"

"No," she choked out. "Just leave me alone." She heard strange scraping noises and a thud right outside the door. It sounded like Stiles was sitting down with his back against the wall.

She slipped off the toilet seat and laid down on the shag rug across the bathroom floor. Face buried in the rug, she sobbed and pulled her knees up against her chest, curling her shaking body into a ball.

 _This is all my fault. If I had just listened to Parrish, none of this would have happened. He didn't want to upset her anymore and I should have known better. The only other banshee I knew…and_ _ **I killed her**_ _._

Lydia's crying ceased long enough for her to drift off on the bathroom floor. When she woke up, she could hear Stiles' voice from the other side of the door. Apparently he was talking on the phone. _Has he been sitting there this whole time?_ _Who's he talking to?_

"Yeah, she's still in there…about three hours…I – I don't know, the door's locked…I don't know what to do; it's like twelve thirty in the morning and I have the PSAT's tomorrow."

She sat up on the floor, suddenly feeling extremely guilty, when he spoke again. "Are you sure you can? You don't mind?...okay, see you in five minutes."

Standing up off the floor, Lydia turned on the sink and washed her face. Her makeup was patchy and her mascara was smudged terribly from crying. By the time she had finished cleaning up and discarding her tissue carnage, she heard a knock on the door.

"Lydia? It's De – " he hesitated. "It's Parrish. Can you unlock the door for me?"

She double-checked in the mirror that she was at least somewhat presentable and unlocked the door. As the door opened, Lydia stood with her arms wrapped around herself in a sudden cold spell. Jordan leaned against the doorframe and searched her face. "It's late. Can I give you a ride home?"

Lydia nodded slowly and walked towards him. "You're cold," he observed. "Here." He removed his jacket and slipped it on her shoulders before putting a hand on her back, gently nudging her out of the bathroom and towards the stairs.

She was completely silent the whole way home. He made no attempt to start a conversation, as if he understood her need for silence. When they arrived at her house, he walked her to the front door and she returned his jacket. He snapped his fingers and groaned suddenly. "Hang on. I have something for you."

He ran back to his car and grabbed a cardboard box from the backseat. Stepping up to the front porch once again, he held out the box to her. "These are some of Meredith's things. She didn't have any living relations and they were going to destroy everything if no one claimed it." He paused. "I thought you might like to at least see what's inside."

"Thank you, Parrish." Lydia tried to smile, but ended up looking more pained than happy. "I really appreciate you getting this for me."

"Of course. Let me know if you need anything else." He started to walk away, but before she went inside he looked at her with a tender expression. "Lydia," he hesitated, "please get some rest. I know you're grieving, but you'll need your strength."

With a nod she opened the front door and went inside.

The next day Lydia woke up to an empty house. Her mom was at the high school supervising the PSAT's and wouldn't be home until after lunch. Lydia went into the kitchen and brewed herself a cup of tea, hoping to calm her nerves.

After inhaling a deep breath, she sat down at the kitchen table with the box of Meredith's belongings. Lydia stared at the container for a minute before opening it, unsure if she even should. The box contained random objects like an antique perfume bottle, a bouquet of dried yellow roses, and a small stuffed animal, but it also contained an old photograph of Meredith. Lydia's eyes grew wide when she realized where Meredith was standing in the photo.

 _The record player…that's the study in Grandm's lake house!_

She heard someone ring the doorbell. After looking through the peephole, she opened the door to see Jordan standing on the porch. She scanned his face and could see he was stressed and anxious.

"Thank God I found you here," he said with a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?" she blurted out.

He shifted on the balls of his feet. "There's trouble at the high school. The CDC has been called in; apparently several people have concerning rashes that are spreading like an epidemic. They put the school under quarantine."

"Oh my gosh." Lydia grew lightheaded and started to collapse when Jordan grabbed her by the waist, helping her over to the couch so she could sit down.

"Why don't you lie down for a little while?" he asked as he nervously scanned her face.

She shook her head and fought to stand up once again. "No, I can't! All of my friends are at the high school. And so is my mom!"

Jordan grew wide-eyed and offered to help support her so she could stand. "Do you want me to take you to the high school with me?"

Lydia nodded quickly before leaning on Jordan to walk out the front door.

When they pulled up to the high school, Lydia could see a restless crowd gathered around large, white tents. Jordan helped her out of the car and through the crowd of people. As they approached the barricade, which was keeping civilians away from the school, Deputy Haigh stopped them.

"Parrish, she can't come in here."

Lydia noticed Jordan's hand clench into a fist. "Yes, she can. And she will." He put a hand on her back and led her through the barricade.

Haigh grabbed Jordan by the arm and scowled at him. "No way in hell am I –"

"Haigh!" the Sheriff called over to them from a nearby tent. "Let them through."

Jordan tore his arm free from Haigh's grip and led Lydia over to the tent where the Sheriff was standing. She could see Jordan's angry expression melt away the farther away from Haigh they moved.

When they approached the tent, Lydia had a strange rushing feeling. Her head felt like it might explode and her knees grew weak, quivering beneath her. As a desperate last resort she reached out for something to support her, when she thought her legs would give way, and grabbed a fistful of Jordan's jacket. He caught her and helped her sit down in a chair, his expression clearly concerned.

Sheriff Stilinski kneeled down beside Lydia and appeared to sense what was really going on. He looked up at Jordan. "Parrish, grab her some cold water, will you?"

Jordan nodded and left the tent as the Sheriff turned his attention back to her. "Lydia, as all this is still very new to me, and I don't know how it works, I still have to ask. Do you have any kind of…" he hesitated, "indication? Any kind of feeling about this? Is someone in there going to die?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation. "And it's not just a feeling."

Sheriff Stilinski left when Jordan returned with a glass of ice water and sat down beside her. "Are you alright?"

Lydia nodded and took a sip of water. The cold helped clear her head. "I will be. Does that count?"

"I guess so," he replied. Jordan stared at the ground for a minute before asking another question. "Have you looked at Meredith's belongings yet?" When she gave him a curious look, he explained. "I saw the open box on your kitchen table."

"Oh," she said. "Yeah, I looked at it. It was mostly random sentimental objects." She looked over at him carefully. "Shouldn't you be working or something?"

"I am," he gave a small smile. "Sheriff Stilinski asked me to stay by your side."

She glanced away and blushed. "I'll try to behave."

After about forty-five minutes of waiting patiently, they heard the sound of the all-clear signal. Lydia and Jordan jumped out of their seats and rushed into the school with the others. Upon entering the building, Lydia searched frantically for her mom, whom she spotted at the other end of the hall. She called out and ran to hug her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Natalie said. "I was just trying to get a little overtime."

Lydia had to laugh at that and hugged her mom again.


	10. Chapter 10: Somebody To Die For

Summary: Lydia learns startling information about her grandmother, which connects her to the deadpool. And as number two on the list, will Lydia's life be in danger?

Based on episode 4x08

Music: Somebody To Die For by Hurts

* * *

Chapter 10: Somebody To Die For

Lydia and Kira were eating pizza at Lydia's house the day after the PSAT's. After Malia saw her true last name on the Deadpool, she was avoiding the entire pack, especially Stiles. Kira asked to spend time with Lydia so Scott could feel free to hang out with Stiles and keep his mind off Malia.

"So," Kira said, before popping a pepperoni in her mouth. "Who's this deputy you've been spending so much time with?"

Lydia bit her lip and pretended to be ignorant. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on," she smirked. "Malia's been telling me all about it. The rides home, the looks, the chemosignals…"

"Chemosignals?" Lydia laughed nervously. "Now I know you're _both_ insane."

Kira took another bite of pizza before speaking again. "Malia could smell the 'romance' in the car when he drove you guys home," Kira said with a smile.

"From which one of us?" Lydia asked anxiously.

Kira laughed. "Both. At least that's what she said."

"So he _does_ like me?" She couldn't help but smile.

"I knew it!" Kira nearly jumped out of her seat. "I knew there was something going on."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Nothing's going to come of it. I mean…I doubt he really likes me. Malia probably smelled it wrong."

Kira smirked. "You mean she probably couldn't tell if she was smelling all of it coming from you instead?"

"Oh gosh," Lydia slouched back into the couch.

After Kira set her plate down, she looked at Lydia. "I was just teasing. Malia definitely smelled it on him. A lot."

"What should I do?" Lydia asked. She normally would be the one _giving_ boy advice, but Jordan was nothing like the boys she was used to dating. He wasn't even a boy; he was a man with goals and a respectable profession.

Kira looked at her and furrowed her brows. "I don't know," she paused, "but don't try to force it. Just let it happen."

Lydia nodded and finished off her slice of pizza. "Hey, I need to go to the lake house to follow up on a picture I found in Meredith's things. You wanna come?"

"I'd love to," Kira said, "but after yesterday Mom's even more anxious about my safety than usual. She wants me home in like thirty minutes."

"No worries," Lydia said. "I'll be fine on my own."

* * *

Jordan was interrupted from his paperwork by a phone call. "Deputy Parrish. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, um, this is Lydia's friend Kira. I'm worried about her and I thought maybe you could help?"

He sat up straighter at this and his heart started racing. "What's wrong? Is she okay?"

"I don't know," Kira said. "She said she needed to go to the lake house, but I couldn't go with her, so she went alone." There was a short pause on the other end of the line. "After everything that's happened recently, I don't think she should be alone like that. I don't want anything bad to happen to her."

"Neither do I," Jordan replied. "I'll head over there right now to check on her."

* * *

Lydia heard the floorboards of the boathouse creaking behind her. She slowly reached beside her and grabbed an oar before whipping around to face her assailant. When she swung the oar towards the person, she screamed at the sight of them and dropped the oar.

"Mom!" Lydia gasped for air. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, what are you doing here?" Natalie asked.

Lydia hesitated. "How did you even know I was here? Did you follow me?"

"No, I'm getting ready for the open house…tomorrow."

With a raised eyebrow, Lydia folded her arms across her chest. "The open house is next week."

"Okay," Natalie admitted. "I followed you. Kira told me where you went." Lydia scoffed and turned away. "Honey, you come up here every weekend, sometimes even during the week. And as far as I can tell, there's not a boy involved so I really have no clue what you're up to."

"I'm trying to figure something out," Lydia replied. "Something important. And honestly, Mom, you don't need to be involved in every single detail of my life."

"No," Natalie said in a firm but loving voice. "But I'd like to help if I can."

Lydia bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably. _Should I let her help? She doesn't even know about the supernatural…but maybe she knows about Meredith._

With a sigh she grabbed the photograph of Meredith in the study from her purse. She held it out to her mom and asked, "Do you know her?"

Natalie looked at the photo curiously before glancing back at Lydia. "Meredith Walker?"

Lydia raised an eyebrow at her mother as Natalie walked over to a locked, wooden cupboard. She opened it, grabbed a small silver urn, and turned to face Lydia. "These are your grandmother's ashes."

Unsure of the connection, Lydia hesitated before realizing why her mom was mentioning it. "Grandma died in Eichen House," she said slowly.

"Your father had a difficult relationship with his mother," Natalie said. "But after the things she said, and the way she acted…"

"He thought she was crazy."

"Well," Natalie began, "she said she heard things."

Lydia glanced away and struggled not to cry. _Grandma was a banshee…like me._

She changed the subject. "Why did she want her ashes in here?" Lydia asked as she looked around the old boathouse.

"Well, actually, she didn't. She left instructions to have them spread across the lake."

Lydia looked across the water and furrowed her brows. "How come you haven't done it?"

Natalie smiled softly. "Because she wanted you to do it…when you turned eighteen. Don't ask me why." She cleared her throat. "But since there's only a few weeks till that, I suppose now is as good a time as any."

Lydia took the urn from her mother's hands and wrapped her fingers around the lid to unscrew it. She closed her eyes and opened the lid before slowly cracking them back open again. When she looked inside the urn she froze. "Mom, these aren't Grandma's ashes," she said in barely more than a whisper.

"What do you mean? Of course they are." Natalie looked at her in confusion.

"No," Lydia said as she reached into the urn and scooped up a handful. "It's Mountain Ash."

On a hunch, Lydia threw the handful of ash towards the edge of the boat dock. The ashes aligned on the wooden frame as she suspected. "The whole building. It's all made of Mountain Ash."

Lydia walked over to the small workbench and leaned against it as Natalie grabbed a box of papers and set it down beside her. "This was the last thing your grandmother wrote down before she died. Don't even know why I kept it because it's basically nonsense."

Glancing over the slip of paper, Lydia felt suddenly faint and whispered, "Are you absolutely sure Grandma's dead?"

Natalie looked at her anxiously. "Yes. I mean…she has to be."

"This isn't nonsense, Mom. It's code."

After a minute of awkward silence, Natalie spoke up. "I need to get home…we both do," she said slowly. "Maybe everything will be clearer in the morning."

Lydia nodded without looking up from the slip of paper. "You go on. I need to finish what I started."

When she finally looked up, she saw the concerned look on her mother's face. "Mom, I'm fine. I'll be out of here right after you leave."

Not looking entirely convinced, Natalie agreed anyway. "Just be quick. I don't want you to be out here all by yourself."

Once Natalie left, Lydia put the urn of Mountain Ash back in the cupboard and gathered the papers she wanted to take home with her. She heard someone approaching her from behind and let out an exasperated sigh. "Mom, go home. I'm fine."

"Not for long."

She felt a hand clasp over her mouth and the cold tip of a gun press against her jawline. Lydia tried to scream and break free, but it was no use.

* * *

Jordan pulled up to the Martins' lake house and saw Lydia's car parked in the drive. _Well, at least I know she's here…or was anyway._ He shook the thought from his head. _Knock it off, Jordan; I'm sure she's okay. She has to be._

He drew his gun for good measure and entered the house. The front door was closed but unlocked and most of the interior lights were switched off. He walked into the living room and froze when he saw the floor. There were splatters of blood across the carpet leading towards the den in the back of the house. He cocked his gun and crept closer to the trail of red stains. Jordan heard a low noise coming from the neighboring room. Gun in hand, he rushed around the corner and flipped on the lights.

"Lydia?"

The strawberry blonde was tied to one of the dining room chairs with zip-ties and had a large strip of duct tape across her mouth. She was crying silently, the mascara smeared around her eyes and tears streamed down her face. When she turned towards him, the sight of her teary eyes and blood running down her cheek made him clench his teeth and curl his hands into fists.

A shadowy figure and the sound of sloshing liquid made him look up. He cursed at the sight of a man outside the window who appeared to be pouring gasoline on the house. _Oh my gosh, I have to get her out of here. He's going to burn the house down!_

Jordan removed the duct tape as gently and quickly as possible and wiped the tears from her face. He pulled a knife from his utility belt and began cutting at the plastic cords. Just as he finished cutting the last tie, he heard Lydia whimper, "Jordan, look out!"

Whipping around, he aimed his gun at the assassin. He slowly stood as he watched the man in front of him, who appeared to be unarmed spare a canister of gasoline in one hand. The man pulled out a lighter and flicked it on in front of him. A sinister smile lit up his face behind the flame. "Deputy Jordan Parrish," he taunted. "You know, I wouldn't fire that gun if I were you…what with all this gasoline around you."

Jordan lowered his gun and scowled at the man. "What makes you think you'll get away with this? Killing an innocent girl?"

The man stepped closer and Jordan moved between him and Lydia. "Well you see, Deputy, she's worth a lot of money to me dead: twenty million the list says. Now, I know better than to go for the twenty-five million dollar Alpha. But a poor, defenseless, little girl?" He released a laugh that made Jordan's stomach churn. "I figured it was worth a shot."

As soon as the words were out of the man's mouth, Jordan made a move for the lighter and twisted the assassin's arm behind him. He swiftly pinned both hands behind the man's back and handcuffed him before radioing for backup. Deputies Haigh and Ramirez arrived within five minutes and walked the man out to the squad car, taking him to the holding cell at the Sheriff's Station.

Now alone in the house once again, Jordan turned his full attention to Lydia, who was still sitting in the chair. He knelt down beside her, placing a hand on top of hers. She was shaking and crying; her eyes were distant like she was in a dream. "Lydia?"

No response. He placed both hands on her shoulders and gave them a slight squeeze. "Lydia, look at me. Are you alright?"

Her eyes finally focused on him and he sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly and moved to stand. He supported her by the elbow as she stood up and watched her carefully. "Parrish, I – I," Lydia started to collapse. He caught her as she fainted and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her out to his car.

Jordan drove her home and, upon arrival, rang the doorbell before moving the still passed out Lydia from his car. Natalie answered the door with a sense of relief and concern. "Have you seen my daughter? I've been trying to reach her, but she hasn't been answering her phone."

He gestured with his open hands in a soothing motion. "She's fine, Ms. Martin. Lydia is in the back of my car. It's a long story, one that I'm sure you'd rather hear from her, but she's fainted."

Jordan picked Lydia up and carried her inside the house. Natalie instructed him to take Lydia to her bedroom and set her down. Doing as he was told, Jordan laid her down on her bed and pulled the covers up over her. He smiled softly at the peaceful expression on her face.

When he walked downstairs, Natalie was waiting for him in the living room. He smiled at her. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Deputy Jordan Parrish," he said.

She managed a smile and shook his hand. "I'm Natalie Martin," she paused. "Thank you so much for looking out for my daughter." Her expression grew more serious. "I worry about her a lot. It's good to know someone else is watching out for her too."

"Of course," Jordan replied. "It's my job. And honestly," he hesitated, "your daughter's an amazing young woman. I'm honored to be able to spend time around her."

Natalie smiled. "Well, would you like some coffee for the road?"

"I'd love some," he beamed.

She walked into the kitchen before calling out to him, "How do you take it?"

"Black."


	11. Chapter 11: Monster

Summary: Jordan has a near-death experience, which brings him one step closer to learning the whole truth of the deadpool.

Based on episode 4x09

Music: Monster by Imagine Dragons

* * *

Chapter 11: Monster

Jordan arrived back at the Sheriff's Station from going on patrol. It was a couple days after Lydia was almost killed and he hadn't seen or heard from her since it happened. When he entered the building there was no one around, not unusual for the night shift. However, the lights were dimmed and it seemed too quiet. He crept into the main room, eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Jordan heard a soft thud behind him, but before he could turn around, he felt a sharp pain resonating through his skull and everything went black.

He woke up in a squad car, his hands zip-tied to the steering wheel. _What the hell? Where am I?_ Jordan could hear a splashing sound and realized someone was pouring gasoline all over the car. "Hey!" he shouted. "What are you doing? Listen…listen to me! I'm a deputy with the Beacon Hills Sheriff's Department…"

"Damn." A familiar face leaned down outside the open passenger window. "I was hoping you'd be out longer."

"Haigh? What the hell? What are you doing?" Jordan cried out in confusion. As Haigh dumped more gasoline on top of the car, he tried to break free but it was no use.

"You're a good guy, Parrish. But the list says you're worth five million dollars."

"What?" Jordan shouted in feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you're talking about! Haigh, listen…I mean, I barely make forty thousand dollars a year."

Haigh froze, now standing right outside the driver's window. "I only make thirty-six," he scowled before sloshing gasoline into Jordan's face.

"Haigh, please! Just stop," Jordan screamed. "You don't have to do this. Look, if you're having money problems – "

"You're worth five million dead, Parrish," Haigh cut him off. "Sounds like you got the problem."

"Please," Jordan begged. "Please, don't do this. You're just gonna stand there? You're just gonna listen to a fellow deputy burn to death?!"

Haigh stopped to place ear buds in his ears before pulling out a lighter. Jordan desperately jerked against the restraints on his wrists as Haigh flicked on the lighter.

When he tossed the flame into the car, Jordan yelled desperately, "Haigh, wait! No, wait!"

The fire caught quickly as it landed on the console next to him. He screamed in pain as his whole body was engulfed in flames along with the squad car. He felt himself slipping away, like he would black out. Before losing consciousness, Jordan saw the image of a young woman attempting to comfort him.

 _Lydia?_

* * *

Stiles and Lydia went to the Station to explain Lydia's new findings to the Sheriff. He looked at them in confusion, prompting Stiles to explain more. "It's not just that she could still be alive…"

"It's that she would've had to fake her death," Lydia finished.

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow at her. "Your grandmother, Lorraine Martin, faked her death?"

"Definitely," Stiles replied.

Lydia corrected him, "Maybe."

"More than likely, yes."

"Okay," the Sheriff folded his arms across his chest. "I'm guessing you got a story to back this up?"

Lydia hesitated. "She might be helping the Benefactor."

"Or is the Benefactor," Stiles said.

"That sounds like a story worth hearing," Sheriff Stilinski replied as he walked over to close the door to his office. He paused as he looked around the main room. The Sheriff turned to glance at Haigh. "You seen Parrish?"

"Haven't seen him," Haigh shook his head and shrugged, causing the Sheriff to go back inside his office and close the door.

* * *

Jordan woke up lying down in an empty parking lot behind the Sheriff's Station. The burnt remainders of the squad car sat beside him. Slowly he stood up, anger starting to boil his blood as he remembered what Haigh had done. _How could he? He's a fellow deputy; how could he try to kill me?!_ Jordan's fists clenched and he set his jaw. _He's going to pay for this._

He walked up to the back entrance of the Sheriff's Station and flung open the doors. Walking inside, he immediately began looking for Haigh, his sight set on nothing else. When he saw Haigh sitting at his desk, he could have laughed at his expression. Haigh looked as if he was staring at a ghost. "But – but, you're dead…"

Anger began to take over Jordan again and he charged at Haigh, slamming him against the wall. Haigh had out his gun and tried to shoot, but ended up only hitting the ceiling. As they struggled, Jordan managed to pin Haigh on the floor and started punching him in the face. He vaguely heard a voice yelling at him, but he didn't stop. With one punch, Haigh's gun went off and hit something nearby.

Jordan kept punching Haigh until he was unconscious. After finally taking deep breaths, he started to relax and think more clearly. He looked over to his left and felt the blood drain from his face. The Sheriff was leaned back against the doorframe, clearly shot in the shoulder by Haigh's rogue bullet. Jordan's eyes shifted more and he froze when he saw Lydia in Stiles' arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes looked terrified and her hands were visibly shaking.

 _Oh God, I'm a monster._

* * *

Lydia leaned back against the Sheriff's desk as Stiles moved to check on his dad. Jordan was kneeling down in the floor beside Haigh's body; his clothes had been singed off his body. Thankfully though, his underwear managed to survive intact.

Stiles slid closer to Lydia and squeezed her shoulder. "I need to take my dad to the hospital, he's bleeding a lot and I think the bullet is wedged in his shoulder. He's probably gonna need surgery to remove it."

Lydia nodded as Stiles glanced over at Jordan, who was still in the floor, now with his head in his hands. "What about him?" Stiles asked. "Deputy Ramirez will lock up Haigh before we leave, but I can't just leave you alone with Parrish. Not now."

"It's okay," Lydia said in a strained whisper. "I'll call Scott and take him to see Derek. I'm sure he will know what he is and what's going on."

She started to stand when Stiles grabbed her arm. "Lydia, it looks like this guy was set on fire…and _survived._ Please, promise me you'll be careful."

"I will," she nodded. Seeming satisfied, Stiles helped Sheriff Stilinski to stand and went with him to the hospital. Lydia walked over to Jordan as a couple of deputies handcuffed Haigh and escorted him to a holding cell. She knelt down and touched Jordan on the shoulder.

"Hey," she said softly. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

He pulled away from her slightly. "If I do you won't believe me."

Lydia smirked. "I'd like to say I don't believe in anything, but I keep an open mind."

Jordan jerked his head up to look at her and let out a laugh. "Alright." He gave a small smile before returning to his serious expression. "Deputy Haigh ambushed me and tied me up in a squad car. He poured gasoline all over the car and me and he…"

"He what?" Lydia prodded.

Jordan looked her in the eyes. "He set the car on fire with me inside. He knows about the list – about the deadpool." He scoffed. "I'm worth five million dead and I don't even know why."

"Actually," Lydia started. "I might be able to help with that."

"How?"

She sighed. "There's a couple of friends of mine who might have some answers for you."

Lydia proceeded to call Scott and Derek to arrange a meeting at Derek's loft. When she got off the phone, she looked back at Jordan. "I have a blanket in my car that you can cover up with and we can stop by your apartment to get you some clothes on the way there. Is that okay with you?"

He nodded and stood up before following Lydia outside to her car.


	12. Chapter 12: Wild Ones

Summary: Jordan learns about the supernatural side of Beacon Hills and Lydia shares about her grandmother Lorraine's connection to Meredith.

Based on episode 4x09

Music: Wild Ones by Bahari

* * *

Chapter 12: Wild Ones

After stopping by his apartment, Jordan was clothed and even had time to take a quick shower to rid his body of the ash and burnt remainders of his uniform. Lydia was silent most of the way there. Jordan could tell she was deep in thought. _She's probably deciding if she can ever trust me again. I survived being set on fire! That's not even remotely normal. It's terrifying! But maybe she and her friends know something I don't…_

When they arrived at the apartment complex, Lydia parked and led Jordan up to the loft. She slid open the large metal door at the entrance and motioned for him to come inside. Jordan saw two people sitting on the couch waiting for them: Scott McCall and Derek Hale. They both stood to greet Lydia and Jordan before looking him over carefully.

Derek looked at Jordan with a curious expression on his face. "Let me see your hands."

Jordan glanced over at Lydia, who nodded in encouragement, and held out his hands. Derek flipped his hands over so he could see both sides several times before speaking. "He covered you in gasoline?"

"It's the hair and nails, isn't it?" Lydia spoke up. "The parts of the body that are essentially dead."

"Well, they should be gone," Derek commented. Jordan still had a full head of hair, all of his fingernails, and all of his body hair.

"I was set on fire," Jordan scoffed. "All of me should be gone."

Scott spoke up for the first time. "Not if you're like us."

"Like you?"

"I don't think he's like us," Derek said.

Lydia looked at Jordan with piqued interest. "Then what is he?"

"Sorry," Derek shrugged, "but I have no idea."

Scott looked at Derek in confusion. "But you knew about Jackson and Kira."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "This is a little out of my experience. There might be something in the bestiary; did you try Argent?"

"I don't know where he is."

"Okay, hold on." Jordan held up his hands. "What's a bestiary? Actually, that's not even my first question. Just…" he hesitated, "just tell me one thing. Are all of you like Lydia?"

Derek and Scott looked at him in confusion while Lydia glanced over expectantly. Jordan clarified his question. "Are you all psychic?"

"Psychic?" Derek asked curiously.

Jordan nodded. "Yeah," he said with a certain degree of confidence. _I mean, what other explanation could there be for everything Lydia has done?_

"Not exactly," Scott replied with a slight smirk.

Jordan furrowed his brows. "Okay, then. What are you?"

Scott glanced at Derek who half shrugged, half nodded in approval, as if he knew exactly what Scott was asking. Scott turned towards Jordan and closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing bright red.

Jordan looked at him in shock. At first he was speechless, but then he managed to shake himself out of it. "What the hell is that all about?! How can you do that?"

"Derek and I are werewolves," Scott replied and flicked open his hand. His fingers were suddenly topped with sharp claws instead of nails.

Jordan turned to look at Lydia. She shifted nervously. "And I'm not a psychic," she said. "I'm a banshee."

"A banshee?" he asked slowly. "As in the fairies who scream when someone is about to die?"

She nodded and looked away. "Yes, I can sense when someone is about to die. That's how I've ended up at all those crime scenes." She cleared her throat before continuing in barely more than a whisper, tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm drawn to the dead bodies."

Jordan fell back onto the couch and rubbed his palms up and down his face. "So what else is there? You might as well go ahead and tell me everything."

Scott nodded. "Well, there's something called a Kanima, a shape-shifting lizard with a paralytic toxin in its claws. It doesn't have a strong sense of identity so it looks for a master to control it. Sometimes, the Kanima doesn't even know it's a Kanima because the person controlling it doesn't want it to."

"Then there's a kitsune," Derek said. "A kitsune is someone who has a trickster fox spirit living inside them. There are thirteen different kinds of kitsune. One of which is a thunder kitsune, like Scott's girlfriend, Kira. She has control over electric currents. Another kind is a nogitsune, or a dark kitsune. Nogitsunes feed off of chaos, strife, and pain. That's what was possessing Stiles a few months ago. The nogitsune was behind the shrapnel bomb in the Sheriff's station and the attack on the hospital."

Lydia moved closer. "The boy Sean Walcott and his family?" She continued when Jordan nodded. "They were something called Wendigos…cannibals. But you kind of already knew that one."

Derek went on to explain a couple more supernatural creatures before Jordan stopped them. "Wait, so what was a Kanima again?"

"We'll get back to that," Scott said, joining Jordan on the couch. "Just know that everyone like us, everyone with some kind of supernatural ability is on the deadpool."

"But I don't even know what I am," Jordan said.

Derek folded his arms across his chest. "I'm pretty sure they don't care."

"How many professional assassins are we talking about?" Jordan asked.

Lydia sighed. "We're starting to lose count."

"But is it still just professionals?" Scott asked, looking up at Lydia curiously.

Jordan turned to face him. "I don't think Haigh's ever tried anything like this. I think he was taking a chance."

"That means anyone with the deadpool could take a chance," Derek commented.

"But if Haigh had it," Jordan said, "then who else does? How easy is it to get this thing now?"

Scott and Derek glanced at each other. "That's what we need to find out," Scott said before turning to Lydia. "Did you find out anything from your mom? Any information about how Meredith was connected to the lake house study?"

Lydia took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, over the past couple days since I was there, I've been able to get my mom to tell me the story. About Meredith."

 _So that's what she's been up to…no wonder I haven't heard anything from her since that night._

Lydia walked over to Derek's bed in front of the window and sat down on the edge. "She was only at my grandmother's lake house once. But…I think once was enough."

"How did your grandmother know her?" Derek asked.

"She didn't," Lydia replied. "She found her. Because of another woman named Maddy. The woman she loved." Lydia stood from the bed and handed Scott a picture from her purse. "I never met her, but I saw her name everywhere. She used to be part of a yacht racing team. There were plaques and trophies in the lake house from all the regattas she'd won."

Jordan studied her expression curiously. "How did she die?"

"How's not the story," Lydia said as she paced the floor. "It's what happened right before. My grandmother, Lorraine, used to work in San Francisco for IBM. She was there on a weekend, catching up on work. She started hearing this sound…like rain. But when she looked out the windows, all she saw was blue sky."

"But she kept hearing the rain?" Scott asked.

Lydia replied without taking her eyes off the window. "And it just kept getting louder. Rain and thunder…cracking like gunshots in her head. So loud. She finally just screamed."

"Like a banshee," Derek commented.

Jordan glanced over at him. _He seems so experienced with this kind of thing. I don't even know what a banshee scream sounds like…hell, I didn't even know banshees **existed** until half an hour ago._

He looked up at Lydia and saw tears starting to form in her eyes. _I wish I knew what to say to her…how to comfort her._

Lydia licked her lips before speaking again. "She called Maddy, who was planning on taking one of the boats out on the lake. But Maddy said that the sun was shining there too. So Lorraine didn't say anything."

Jordan sensed where her story was going. "There was an accident," he said as more of a statement than a question.

She took a shaky breath and bit her lip. "It took them four days to find Maddy's body. And then it took decades to figure out how Lorraine knew. She started with parapsychologists, like the PhD in their name made it more scientific. They built the study in the lake house according to every pseudoscientific theory they could find. None of it worked. Then she started getting into more extreme occult things like mediums and psychics. All of them were failures." Lydia paused. "Until she found Meredith. They found her at Eichen House. This fragile girl who didn't understand the things she heard. They brought her to the study…and they almost killed her."

Tears were flowing down Lydia's cheeks as she spoke. "She was hospitalized for over a year. She…never really recovered. My grandmother drove her insane. And I drove her to suicide. And all she ever wanted to do was help."

The emotion in Lydia's voice broke something inside Jordan. _I wish she wouldn't blame herself. Meredith went through a lot; most of it happened long before Lydia knew her. It's not Lydia's fault she killed herself…but I can't imagine what she's going through. Meredith was the only other banshee she knew._

Lydia walked over to a nearby table. She pulled a slip of paper out of her purse and laid it down in front of her. Scott, Derek, and Jordan gathered close as she moved the page to the center of the table where all three of them could see it. "My grandmother created the code for the deadpool. They think she's the banshee who put the names on it in the first place." Lydia pointed to the paper. "She left me this message in the same code."

Scott looked up. "But she didn't leave a cipher key, did she?"

Lydia shook her head and bit her lip. "No…she didn't."


	13. Chapter 13: Armor

Summary: Lydia goes back to Jordan's apartment with him after leaving Derek's loft.

Takes place during episode 4x09

Song inspiration – Armor by Landon Austin

* * *

Chapter 13: Armor

In the wake of his new knowledge of the existence of supernatural creatures, all Jordan wanted to do was go home and sleep. Maybe he would wake up and realize it had all been a dream. He grabbed his leather jacket from the back of the couch and when he looked up, he noticed Lydia sitting on the couch twiddling her thumbs and staring at the floor. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly and look up at him.

"Are you ready to go home? It's getting late," he said softly, afraid he might startle her all over again.

"Sure," Lydia nodded. She stood and followed him out the door and downstairs to the parking lot.

When they arrived at her car, he paused and eyed her carefully. "Do you want me to drive? I don't mind."

She nodded as he opened the passenger door and helped her climb in before walking around to the driver's side. Once he was in the car, he turned to Lydia and saw her hands shaking in her lap.

"Lydia, what's wrong?"

She turned to face him and tried to force a small smile, but he could see the tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm scared," she said in barely more than a whisper. "My mom is out of town and I don't want to be home alone. I'm number two on the deadpool, and let's be honest I'm a much easier target than most. What if someone else tries to kill me?"

He put a hand on hers and thought for a minute before responding. "Why don't you come back to my apartment with me? That way you won't be alone tonight and no assassin would think to look for you there."

"Really?" Lydia looked up at him through teary eyes. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I'm sure. It's no problem at all."

"Thanks," she smiled ever so slightly, still choking back tears.

He smiled back as he put the car into gear and drove to his apartment. Once they arrived Jordan made a pass through each room to make sure they were alone. He was relieved to see this helped Lydia stop shaking quite as much.

Jordan took her back to his bedroom, gently guiding her by the shoulder as if he was worried she'd wander off and get lost. Flipping on the lights, he searched through his drawers for makeshift pajamas. He settled on one of his old, gray Army T-shirts and a pair of blue plaid boxers. Looking back to Lydia, he set the clothes on the foot of his bed. "Is this okay?" he asked before closing the dresser drawers.

She nodded and picked up the clothes. "Why don't you change in the bathroom," he said. "There's a spare toothbrush that's brand new in the cabinet under the sink."

She complied and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Jordan hurried to change into sweatpants and a clean T-shirt, which he did before she finished in the bathroom. When she opened the door, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her in his shirt and boxers. _Man, she's beautiful._ Her hair was still piled up on top of her head in a messy ponytail, but she had washed off her makeup and removed her jewelry.

Lydia climbed under the covers of his bed and, just as Jordan was walking out the door, called out to him. "Where are you going to sleep?"

He turned to face her and smiled. "I was going to grab a blanket and pillow so I could sleep on the floor in here with you." Jordan's expression turned more serious. "That way I can protect you. If anything should happen, I'll be right there if you need me."

She smiled and nodded, as if prompting him to carry on with what he was doing. He grabbed a blanket and pillow from the hall closet and settled down in the floor at the foot of the bed.

"Goodnight, Parrish," she said before switching off the bedside lamp.

"Goodnight, Lydia." He rolled over on his side and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Jordan woke up to the sound of his name.

"Parrish, are you awake?" Lydia's voice trembled through the dark room.

He sat bolt upright and looked in her direction. He was able to see the outline of her figure sitting up in bed, but it was too dark to see her face. "Yeah, I'm awake. What's wrong?"

"I'm cold," she whispered. "Do you have any more blankets or anything?"

"Not really," he replied. "Just the one I'm sleeping under."

"Then," Lydia hesitated. "Ca – can you get in the bed with me?"

He nodded in response, and then he realized she probably couldn't see him nod. "Yeah, I can do that."

He walked to the opposite side of the bed from where she was laying and crawled on top of the covers. He slid to roughly the middle of the bed before Lydia moved up against him. Jordan wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He could feel her shivering and her skin was cold to the touch. Trying to warm her up, he rubbed his hand up and down her arm to create friction and heat.

After a few minutes, her shaking subsided and her skin was nearly the same temperature as his. Jordan started to move away since he was no longer needed, but Lydia immediately grabbed his arm. "Parrish, please. Don't leave me," she said.

He melted at the sound of his name echoing from her lips and slipped closer once again, his arm resting across her stomach. "Okay."

After a minute of silence, Lydia spoke up again. "How are you so okay right now?"

"What do you mean?" Jordan asked.

She turned around to face him and looked him in the eyes. "Someone tried to kill you today. Haigh, your _co-worker_ , poured gasoline on you and set you on fire." Her voice cracked slightly. "You should have died today, but you don't seem phased by it at all."

Jordan hesitated, unsure of what to say. "I guess I'm used to it."

Lydia frowned. "Used to what? Being set on fire? Co-workers trying to kill you?"

"No," he said, "being on the verge of death."

When she didn't respond he took a deep breath and continued. "For the past six years my entire life has revolved around serving others and my country…even if I die in the process." He let out a soft chuckle. "Lydia, my specialty is bomb disposal. My life has been in danger since long before the deadpool."

She shook her head against the pillow. "But this is different. Before, it was an occupational hazard. Now, people want you dead. Want me dead. We're worth millions of dollars. That's a whole new level of danger."

"Maybe," he said.

"Parrish, don't you understand?" she raised her voice. "I can't lose anybody else."

He reached out and touched her face, gently wiping the fresh tears from her eyes. "Hey, it's gonna be alright," he said in a soothing voice. "You wanna talk about it?"

Lydia took a deep breath before looking him in the eyes again. "A couple months ago I lost my best friend, Allison. She was killed by one of the Oni being controlled by Sti – I mean, the nogitsune. I wasn't even there with her when she died. Scott was, but…"

"Scott?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Scott and Allison dated about a year ago. They were each other's first loves. She was Scott's anchor on the full moons and he was always there for her, even when she didn't know it. They never stopped loving each other, even after they broke up. She told him she had always loved him with her dying breaths."

Jordan brushed some loose strands of hair out of Lydia's eyes and smiled. "Tell me more about her. What was she like?"

Lydia smiled back. "She was the strongest and bravest person I knew. She was kind and loving, but she could definitely kick your butt if you threatened someone she cared about. I think she learned that from her dad."

"I can definitely see that," he said. "The butt kicking anyway. It all makes so much more sense now…now that I know the Argents were a family of werewolf hunters. That explains why Mr. Argent had that 'light saber' when he and Derek were arrested a few months ago. God, there's so much more to Beacon Hills that I never knew. It's kind of overwhelming. I mean I can't help but think how things would have been different if I knew then what I know now…"

She looked away as her voice cracked. "Yeah, well, Allison knew as much as anyone could and it didn't save her…I couldn't save her." She scoffed. "I'm a banshee and I couldn't even tell my _best friend_ was going to die until it was too late."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault, Lydia. Allison wasn't your fault. Meredith wasn't your fault. You can't save everybody; you're just one person."

"I know," she cried, "but I just can't see a way out of this. How are we going to survive the deadpool?"

"Lydia," he said in a low voice. His eyes stared deeply into hers in the low lighting. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I can promise you this: no one is going to lay a hand on a single hair on your head. Not as long as I'm around."

She nodded softly. "I believe you," she whispered as she stopped crying.

He smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, then flashed a playfully scolding glance. "You should go to sleep."

Rolling back over on her side, Lydia scoffed. "How am I supposed to sleep now?"

Jordan wrapped her in his arms, squeezing her gently as he spoke. "Easy, just remember where you are. You're here with me." He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "And I won't let anything bad happen to you."

She smiled at the sensation of his breath on her neck. "Okay," she whispered back. "I trust you."


	14. Chapter 14: Open Heart

Summary: Lydia tells Jordan about becoming a banshee and later works with Stiles to crack the final code her grandmother left behind.

Based on episode 4x09

Music: Open Heart (feat. Lissie) [Bonus Acoustic Mix] by Morgan Page

* * *

Chapter 14: Open Heart

The next morning Jordan woke up beside Lydia. He rolled over to see the time on his alarm clock. _5:56. Good thing I woke up before my alarm._ He reached out and pressed the off button. _I don't want to wake Lydia up this early._

Jordan slipped off the bed and walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee. As he was pouring himself a cup, he heard the soft pattering of footsteps behind him. He turned around in surprise to see Lydia standing there, still wearing his T-shirt and boxers. "Good morning," he smiled. "Sorry, I tried not to wake you."

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. I have school today and I have to go by my house first to get ready."

After a moment of awkward silence, Jordan nodded towards the coffeepot. "Would you like some coffee?" He chuckled. "It's the least I can do for waking you up so early."

Lydia smiled. "I would love some."

He set out another mug and gazed at her as she poured herself a cup. Her ponytail was loose at the back of her head and baby hairs framed her face. Lydia's eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying the night before. Without makeup on he could clearly see the cuts on her cheek from being attacked by the assassin at the lake house. But in the early morning sun, she still looked absolutely stunning.

Jordan cleared his throat. "So, are there anymore details of the supernatural happenings in Beacon Hills I should know about?"

Lydia stirred her coffee excessively, avoiding eye contact with him. He sighed. "Okay, Lydia, what is it that you don't want to tell me?"

"It's not that I don't want to tell you," she said. "I'm just not sure how you'll react."

Jordan laughed. "I survived being burnt alive and we have no idea why. After all the crazy stuff that happened yesterday, I think I can handle whatever you have to say."

She smirked and took a sip of coffee. "Good point," she said. Lydia sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for him to join her. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"See, Allison had an aunt named Kate who was also a werewolf hunter. She was responsible for the Hale house burning down seven years ago. She even dated Derek before the fire, but she was killed by Peter Hale over a year ago." Lydia took a shaky breath. "He's um…he's also the person who turned me into a banshee."

"What do you mean?" Jordan asked cautiously.

"Well, werewolves come to be one of two ways. Either they are born werewolves like Derek, or they are bitten like Scott," she replied. "Scott was bitten by Peter…and so was I. But I didn't turn into a werewolf. I guess because of my grandmother, being a banshee was in my blood instead."

Jordan turned his empty coffee mug thoughtfully in his hands. "How long have you known? That you're a banshee I mean."

"About five months," she sighed. "But I became one long before that. I was bitten last February, on the night of the spring formal. I almost bled out on the lacrosse field and was in the hospital for two days before running through the woods in a fugue state. For over six months I had no idea what was going on with me. I knew something happened to me, but no one had any answers. No one could tell me what I was, until our English teacher turned out to be a dark druid who was ritually sacrificing people and tried to kill me. She figured it out when I screamed for help."

Lydia looked up at Jordan and offered a small smile. "I know what it's like…to not know."

He fidgeted nervously in his seat. "So you're not scared to be around me?"

"No, why would you think that?" She looked at him curiously.

"Because," he started, "I saw you in the station. I saw the look on your face after I attacked Haigh. You were crying and," his voice cracked, "you looked terrified."

Lydia reached out and touched his hand gently. "I wasn't crying because I was afraid of you…I was crying because I thought you were hurt. You were covered in ashes and blood, Parrish, I was worried about what happened to you," she almost whispered.

He removed his hand from hers and held them both out in front of her, turning them to show both sides. "It's okay, I'm better now."

She smiled slightly and stood to set her mug in the sink along with his. Jordan looked down at his hands, deep in thought. "Wait a second," he said. "Kate _Argent_?"

Lydia turned to look at him. "Yeah…why?"

"You never finished telling me about her. I recognize her name from the deadpool…but I thought you said she was killed over a year ago?"

Tucking stray hairs behind her ears, Lydia glanced down at her feet. "That's what we all thought." She leaned back against the kitchen counter and folded her arms across her chest. "A few weeks ago we found out that she was alive. She kidnapped Derek and took him to an Aztec temple in Mexico where she performed some sort of ritual on him that made him young again."

"Hold on," Jordan said as he held up his hand. "You mean to tell me that fifteen year-old boy who we found loitering at the remains of the Hale house actually _was_ Derek Hale?"

Lydia nodded. "Whatever Kate did to him, it's still happening. He's losing his powers and I'm afraid he could even be dying. I just know Kate and her Berserkers are up to something…I just don't know what."

Jordan looked at the time and jumped out of his seat. "It's later than I thought. You need to get home so you can get ready for school, don't you? And I need to get to work."

She ran back into his bedroom, gathered her things, and changed back into the previous day's outfit. Once they were both dressed, Jordan started to walk towards the front door when Lydia stopped him.

"How are you planning on getting to work without a car?"

He turned around and smiled at the smirk on her face. "That's a good question."

Lydia held up her keys. "I'll drive."

With a smile, Jordan grabbed his jacket and wallet from the coffee table and followed her out the door. "By the way, what's a Berserker?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I'll explain it on the way."

* * *

After school Lydia went over to Stiles' house so he could help her crack the final code. He was pacing behind her and fidgeting constantly. "Try Maddy. It's got to be Maddy."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Doesn't Maddy feel a little obvious as a cipher key?"

"I guarantee you it's Maddy," Stiles said.

She typed the name in and got the familiar error message.

"Okay," Stiles said. "Your name. She left the code for you, right? So it's got to be your name."

Error.

"Your mom's name."

Error.

"Do you have any beloved family pets?" he asked.

Lydia groaned in frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose between her eyebrows. _Why can't I seem to figure this out? She left the stupid code for me, so of all people I should be able to crack it, right?_

After trying for another hour, even Stiles was facedown on his desk. "The ashes were left for you. The code was left for you. You're supposed to be able to figure this out."

"But no one else is," she said, "which is why she made it hard."

"You…no one else," Stiles mumbled. "You have to figure it out."

"Thank you, Stiles," Lydia said, her voice oozing sarcasm. "The constant criticism is a wonderful motivator."

When he didn't respond to her attitude, she looked over and saw he was deep in thought. "Stiles, what is it?"

"Our guesses," he said. "They're all about Lorraine, right? We keep trying to guess a word that has something to do with her."

"So?" Lydia asked.

"So, maybe we should be trying to guess one that's about you."

She looked up at him in confusion. "Me? What about me?"

"What do you remember doing with your grandmother?" Stiles asked. "You know, what was you guys' like, special thing? Did you guys go to the beach? Did you like ice cream…"

"We read," Lydia replied.

Stiles' face lit up as he thought he was onto something. "Okay, what did you read?"

Lydia hesitated. "The Little Mermaid."

He looked at her in shock and raised an eyebrow. "You read that _movie_?"

"It was a book first," she said slowly and rolled her eyes. "Hans Christian Anderson?"

Stiles sighed. "Type it in: Little Mermaid."

Error.

Lydia became even more frustrated. "We read it every night. I got so obsessed with it, for three months I wouldn't respond to anything but Ariel. It drove my parents crazy, but…" she froze at the sudden epiphany. "But Grandma thought it was adorable."

She quickly moved her fingers to type in "Ariel" and pressed enter. Stiles and Lydia watched carefully as the code was unraveled for the last time.

"You recognize any of these names?" Stiles asked.

She shook her head. "Just my grandmother's."

Lydia heard the sound of Stiles' printer gong off followed by her name. "Lydia, we need to call Scott."

She turned around and saw Stiles standing beside the printer with a handful of copies of the deadpool as the printer continued to run behind him. Lydia quickly pulled out her cell phone and dialed Scott.

"Scott, we have a problem."

"If you mean the deadpool being disseminated through random wireless printers, then yeah…we know."

"But how – "

"Last night Liam's printer went off randomly and wouldn't stop printing the list. Today at school Coach's printer did the same thing." He sighed. "But that isn't even the most concerning part. Did you notice how the list has been updated? Everyone who's been killed has been marked off the list…and Derek's name isn't on it."

"What do you mean he's not on the list?" Lydia grabbed one of the copies and scanned the list for his name, but to no avail.

"Well, you see how all those names have been marked out? The names of those who died? Derek's name isn't marked off the list; it's been _taken_ off. I don't know what that means, but the fifteen million dollars he was worth have been added to Liam's. Liam is number three on the deadpool now, worth eighteen million dollars."


	15. Chapter 15: Angels

Summary: Lydia and Stiles run into trouble at Eichen House and Jordan makes a life-saving observation.

Based on episode 4x09

Music: Angels (feat. Kat Nestel) by Vicetone

* * *

Chapter 15: Angels

Lydia and Stiles went to the Sheriff's Station to show Jordan the new list, in hopes that he could make more of it than they could.

Jordan pulled up all the names from the list on the computer and shook his head. "Well, it's not another deadpool. More like an already deadpool."

"All of them?" Lydia asked slowly. _That can't be right. Then, what's the purpose of this list?_

Jordan looked at her and nodded. "Within the last ten years. All suicides and all at the same place."

"Eichen House," Stiles chimed in.

Sheriff Stilinski stepped into the room and called out to Jordan. "Parrish, come here! I need your help."

"Sorry guys, I'll be back," Jordan said, quickly standing and leaving the room.

Lydia stared at the list of names once again. _Maybe we just need to see Eichen's records on them…_

She heard Stiles scoff and saw him shaking his head, as though he could read her thoughts. "Lydia, Eichen House isn't a library. You need a warrant to get files from there."

"My grandmother left me a list of ten suicides, including her own," Lydia replied. "There's got to be a reason why. Is there anyone there who's willing to help us?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, but there might be someone willing to take a bribe."

Lydia and Stiles stopped talking when Jordan came back over. "So, was there anything else I could help you guys with?"

"No," she said quickly. "Thanks for all the help, but we better be going."

Seeing Jordan's confused expression, she grabbed Stiles by the arm and led him out of the Sheriff's Station before Jordan could ask any questions.

* * *

Standing in Brunski's office, Lydia was beginning to think her plan was a bad idea. Brunski was leaned back in his desk chair with his usual smug expression on his face. "A thousand," he said.

"A thousand dollars?" Stiles asked incredulously. "To use one little key to open up one little file room? Are you out of your mind?"

"When you get the keys, you make the price," Brunski smirked.

"Right," Stiles muttered. "You actually think we have that kind of money?"

Brunski shook his head. "I know _you_ don't. If you did, Daddy Sheriff would've paid the bill by now. That's why I'm talking to her," he said, turning to Lydia.

She rolled her eyes before opening her wallet. "I have five hundred." Lydia pulled the cash out and tossed it on the desk.

He grinned and turned to the cassette tape player beside him, which had been playing oldies music the whole time they were there. Lydia froze when he popped in a new tape. _Oh my gosh, that tape!_ _It matches the one Scott and Stiles found in Garrett's gym bag: the ones the Benefactor has been using to explain the instructions for the deadpool. That can't be a coincidence, can it?_

Lydia looked over at Stiles and, judging by the expression on his face, he saw the tape as well. Brunski grabbed his keys and hopped up from his desk, his sickening smile turning her stomach with every look. "Follow me."

Hesitantly, Lydia and Stiles followed Brunski out the door and down the hallway. After a number of twists and turns, they arrived at a door labeled, "records." Brunski unlocked the door and let them in. "Good?" he asked.

"Yeah," Stiles replied. "We can help ourselves."

They inched away from Brunski before Stiles asked Lydia for the list. He opened the page and froze. "Lydia, why did you write another name on here?"

"I didn't write anything," she insisted.

Stiles pointed at the piece of paper. "This is your handwriting."

"Why the hell would I write another name, Stiles?"

He moved closer and held the page out to her. "Why would you write mine?"

Lydia stared at Stiles' name in her handwriting and jumped at a voice beside them. "It was the tapes, wasn't it?"

Brunski was standing a couple feet away. Before they could respond, Brunski tazed Stiles, making him crumple into a heap on the floor. He turned to Lydia and chuckled. "Your turn, sweetheart."

* * *

Jordan closed his work computer and grabbed the stack of papers about the people on the new list Lydia brought in. He started to set the papers back down when he noticed something suspicious. Sifting through all the papers, he realized they said the same things.

 _Cause of death: Suicide._

 _Delivered to morgue by: L. Brunski._

Jordan froze. _Oh my gosh, Lydia. You guys went to Eichen House didn't you?_

He ran outside to his squad car and hopped inside, flooring it to Eichen House. _I hope I'm not too late._

* * *

Lydia woke up tied to a metal support beam in the file room. "Help us! Someone help us!"

She shouted for help until she felt her throat burning and Stiles called out her name. "Lydia, there's a lot of people screaming for help in a place like this. I don't think anyone's listening."

"Well," she said, "I'm open to better ideas. Because if you didn't notice, all of those suicides were murders."

"That's why she left you the message," Stiles commented.

Lydia whispered through tears. "She predicted her own death. She knew I'd figure it out."

She jumped at the sound of the file room door opening. "Once you were able to predict your own," Brunski finished her sentence. "But they weren't murders. I'm not some serial killer like Ted Bundy going around cutting up college girls."

"No," Stiles spoke up. "You're just an angel of death."

Brunski moved closer to Stiles and whispered harshly into his ear. "I don't think you understand my level of commitment to my work here, Stiles," he hissed. "There are people here who don't simply need treatment – they need release. I helped them. I helped Lorraine."

"You killed her," Lydia whispered.

"I helped her," Brunski insisted. "And now you can help me. Because there is something about it that's always bothered me."

Brunski pulled out a tape with Lorraine's name on it and put it in his cassette player. Tears streamed down Lydia's face as the tape started playing.

 _"What are you…Brunski, what are you doing?"_

 _"Don't worry, Lorraine. It's going to be alright. You're just going to have a little trouble breathing."_

Stiles struggled against his restraints. "Lydia, look at me. Don't listen." His voice shifted to a whisper. "Okay? Don't listen to it. Just focus on my voice, Lydia. Don't listen to it. Block it out. Okay? Lydia?"

Lydia couldn't focus on his voice. The sound of her grandmother's labored breathing was echoing through her head. She couldn't block it out. She couldn't help but listen.

When Stiles realized his idea wasn't working, he turned to Brunski and yelled, "Hey, turn it off!"

He punched Stiles in the face as Lydia screamed, "Stop!"

"Then listen." Brunski grabbed her face in his hand, squeezing her cheeks in a vice grip. "Just listen."

Lydia was hyperventilating and her heartbeat was rapid and erratic.

"I need your help with this, Lydia," Brunski demanded as tears ran down her face. "Here it is. This is the part I never understood. Listen."

Lydia could hear her grandmother's shaky voice.

 _"Please don't hurt her."_

 _"Don't hurt who?" Brunski asked._

 _"Ariel," Lorraine replied._

Brunski let go of Lydia's face as the tape stopped. She simply looked up at him without offering any explanation as to the identity of Ariel. Brunski frowned and cracked his neck, standing to retrieve a box from one of the shelves. "You know, we get a lot of teenagers trying to break into our drug cabinets. Most of the time they don't succeed…but you two look pretty clever to me."

Stiles and Lydia fought against their restraints, though it was no use since the restraints were intended to contain mentally ill patients.

"I'll admit, Stiles," Brunski chuckled. "I don't have any unusual talents like Lydia." He drew up a syringe and flicked it with his finger. "But, somehow, I just knew we were gonna get a chance to do this again."

Lydia whimpered in protest as Brunski moved towards Stiles with the syringe. However, at the last second he switched targets and grazed her neck with the needle.

"Drop it!" yelled a familiar voice.

Jordan was suddenly standing two feet away with his gun aimed at Brunski. "Take your thumb off that needle and slowly withdraw it from her neck," he commanded as he stepped closer.

Brunski just chuckled. "Young deputy, you're just a kid." He turned to face Jordan with a scowl and started to press the needle into her skin. "I bet you've never even fired a – "

Jordan pulled the trigger, shooting Brunski over the heart. As the orderly's body crumpled onto the floor, Jordan crouched down beside Lydia and unfastened the restraints on her wrists, all the while keeping his gun pointed at Brunski.

Lydia was shaking as Jordan knelt down with his face close to hers. She looked at him with wide-eyes. "He – he killed my grandmother. He was controlling Meredith."

Jordan straightened up and aimed his gun back at Brunski as Lydia moved to release Stiles.

"He used her to create the deadpool," Stiles said.

Lydia stared at Brunski's body on the floor before looking back up at Jordan. "And he killed her when she tried to help us."

Jordan looked at Lydia curiously when Brunski suddenly started coughing up blood. Even as he was dying, he managed to emit a sickening chuckle. "You…you think it was me?" he whispered. "That I was controlling her? Idiots." He laughed again. "She was controlling me," he said as he took his last breath.

"Oh God." Lydia muttered, causing Jordan and Stiles to stare at her. "It's not him. He's not the Benefactor."

Lydia was answered by another woman's voice. "No."

She jumped and looked in the direction of the voice to see Meredith standing behind one of the tall shelves. _Meredith, how could you do this? All this time I thought you were dead. Do you know the absolute hell you've put me through?! And all so I could find out that **you're** the one who put a multi-million dollar reward on my head?_

Meredith stepped out of the shadows and looked Lydia in the eyes. "He wasn't on my list…but he was a bad person."


	16. Chapter 16: Cut The Rope

Summary: Lydia and Jordan in the aftermath of what happened at Eichen House.

Based on episode 4x10

Music: Cut The Rope by Charlotte OC

* * *

Chapter 16: Cut The Rope

Jordan called for backup to come and escort Meredith to the Sheriff's Station. She was extremely cooperative as the deputies took her away, as if she hadn't done anything wrong.

He looked over and noticed Lydia standing alone, back leaned against the wall, as Stiles explained what happened to his dad. Jordan stepped closer and touched her arm gently. "Lydia, are you alright?"

Still shaking all over, she nodded quickly, but Jordan wasn't convinced. "It's okay, you know? To not be okay."

Lydia shifted on her feet and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I'll be fine. I _am_ fine."

"Don't say that," he whispered and looked at her with sad eyes. "Because as much as I want that to be true, I know better. You know better. Lydia, you're lying through your teeth and I don't want to hear it. Can't you respect me enough to be honest with me?"

She reached out and grabbed his arm as he started to walk away. "Parrish, wait," Lydia sighed. "You're right and I'm sorry. I'm just…I'm afraid that if I start thinking about everything that's happened to me, to Meredith, to my grandmother, that I'll end up…in a dark place I can never get out of. Like I did after Allison –"

"I understand," Jordan said softly, taking her hand in his and giving it a quick squeeze. "And I get it if you don't wanna talk about it; that can wait until you're ready." He let go of her hand and glanced away before returning his eyes to hers. "But I worry about you. I mean, despite everything that's happened you're still so strong and brave. And I hope you know you have a choice. You don't have to pretend like you're strong enough." Jordan looked at her tenderly. "You don't have to put on an act for me."

He noticed fresh tears pooling in Lydia's eyes as she managed a soft smile. "Thanks, Parrish, that means a lot." She hesitated. "Thank you for everything."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "I mean it. Stiles and I would be dead if it wasn't for you." Lydia's voice cracked into a broken whisper. "You've saved my life twice now…and I never got the chance to thank you."

Their conversation was interrupted by Stiles walking over. Lydia looked at him nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Stiles, you need to go to the hospital. Brunski hit your head pretty hard."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Lydia, I'm fine. Want me to take you home?"

She shook her head without hesitation. "No, you shouldn't drive until they know you don't have a concussion, and I need to go to the Sheriff's Station…for Meredith."

Stiles started to protest when Jordan spoke up. "I think that's a good idea, Lydia. I can drive you if you want?"

"Well, I think it's a terrible idea," Stiles complained. "It's getting late, and especially after what just happened, you need some rest."

Lydia refused to budge. "I can rest in the car if I need to. Parrish is taking me to the Station and that's that." She softened slightly at Stiles' hurt expression. "Look, Meredith needs me. She's not a killer…I just know it. Stiles, she needs someone there to defend her. I have to go."

He folded his arms across his chest and sighed, realizing his defeat. "Alright, but let me know what you find out. And you call me if anything happens, okay? Anything at all."

She nodded and turned to Jordan. "You ready to go?"

* * *

Lydia watched intently from outside the Sheriff's office as he questioned Meredith. His arm was still in a sling as it healed from the rogue bullet from Haigh's gun. She stopped pacing when she heard the door open.

"What did she say?" Lydia asked.

"Hard to tell." The Sheriff scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "There were words. I'm not sure there were actual sentences."

"Nothing," she sighed. _Meredith, I can't help if you don't start talking. You have to tell us why! I know all you've ever wanted to do was help so tell us how you're helping now._

Sheriff Stilinski reached for a nearby desk phone. "I think we need a psychologist…or a medium."

Lydia sat down on a bench and scoffed. "Is she even competent enough to be charged with something?"

The Sheriff hung up the phone and looked at her, clearly upset by the current situation. "If Meredith is the Benefactor, then that means she was competent enough to trick Kate into opening the Hale vault, competent enough to blackmail Brunski into helping her, and competent enough to create a hit list and pay out money for its completion." He turned to point behind him at Meredith, who was still sitting in his office. "This girl's practically a criminal mastermind."

 _No, I don't believe it…it can't be true. She has to have a reason. She has to have thought she was helping. But how?_

"There's gotta be a reason why she would do this," Lydia muttered.

The Sheriff leaned against the desk and said, "I'm only interested in the 'why,' if it tells me the 'how.'"

"You mean how to stop it."

"After what happened to Scott tonight, this thing's still going," he said. "The payments could be automatic. And as long as the killers are getting paid, and paid very well, that list is gonna keep getting smaller."

Lydia nodded as she caught his meaning. "We don't just need to stop the deadpool…"

"We need to stop the money," he finished her sentence.

The Sheriff returned to his office to question Meredith, leaving Lydia alone in the main room. With a sigh she put her head in her hands, choking back the salty tears that tried to surface.

 _Meredith, please. Don't be one of the bad guys. Tell me why you did this. We're alike…you and me. I want to understand. I don't believe that you deserve to be locked up as a murderer. Just – just give me a sign that I was right…that all you want to do is help._

She was shaken from her thoughts by a familiar voice. "Lydia, are you okay?"

Looking up she saw Jordan standing over her. His eyes looked tired and strained as they searched her face.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She sat up straighter and crossed her legs. "I just wish Meredith would talk already."

Jordan simply nodded understandingly. "Do you need anything? Some water? A cup of coffee?"

"I'd love a cup of coffee," Lydia smiled.

He smiled back and walked swiftly out of the room, returning a minute later with a cup of coffee. She took the warm mug, which said "Beacon County Sheriff's Department" across the side, in her hands and held it tightly on her lap. Jordan pulled up a chair next to her and sat down.

Lydia watched him carefully as she sipped her coffee. _He looks so deep in thought. What's he thinking about that makes him look so anxious? Is he shaken up about what happened earlier?_

"What are you thinking about?" Lydia finally asked.

He looked up at her and took a deep breath, rubbing his palms down his thighs. "I was thinking about what happened at Eichen House. Or what almost happened." His breath seemed to hitch in his throat as he spoke. "If I hadn't looked at those death certificates again. If I hadn't gone to Eichen on a hunch, then…" He looked away, not finishing his thought.

Lydia reached out and gave his hand a soft squeeze. She smiled. "But you did. That's all that matters now." She let go and took another sip of coffee. "You kept your word."

Jordan shook his head. "No, I didn't. I said no one would hurt a single hair on your head. I wasn't promising to just keep you alive. I was promising I would keep you from getting hurt."

"You did keep your word, Parrish. At least in my book. I mean, you just _killed_ a man to save my life," Lydia said quietly. "That's more than I could ever ask someone to do for my sake."

She searched his face tenderly and continued when he didn't respond. "And I'm okay. Yes, he forced me to listen to my grandmother dying. Yes, he punched my friend in the face when he tried to protect me. Yes, he even tried to kill me. But we made it out of there in one piece." She took a deep breath and shook her head. "He may have had the power to kill me, but he couldn't hurt me unless I let him. I didn't let him get to me and eventually I'll forget how he tried."

Lydia looked back at Jordan and noticed him smiling at her. "What?" she asked. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Because of how strong you're being." He leaned in closer before continuing. "And because I can tell it's not an act."

She smiled as she felt heat rising in her cheeks, which she attempted to mask by sipping more coffee. Growing more serious once again, she turned around to see inside the Sheriff's office. Meredith was still sitting in front of Sheriff Stilinski's desk as he tried to talk to her. Lydia sighed as she turned back to face Jordan. "I hope Meredith starts talking soon."


	17. Chapter 17: Lifespan

Summary: Lydia and Jordan continue trying to get Meredith to talk about the deadpool.

Based on episode 4x10

Music: Lifespan by Vaults

* * *

Chapter 17: Lifespan

Jordan came in to work the next morning still exhausted from the day before. He could barely sleep for the images from Eichen House replaying in his head. _I've been to Afghanistan and served in the army for two years doing bomb disposal, but that was something else. I don't know why what happened yesterday affected me like it did._ Jordan froze when he stepped into the main room of the Sheriff's Station and realized the answer.

 _Lydia._

He saw her asleep on the same bench where he last saw her the night before. She still had his jacket across her lap to keep her warm.

 _That's why it's haunting me. Not because I killed Brunski, but because Brunski almost killed Lydia. Because she was that close to dying. Because if I had been two minutes later she would be…_

He felt his knees go weak and shook the thought from his head. He saw the Sheriff come out of his office and sit down next to Lydia, who had just woken up at the sound of the door opening.

"I thought I told you to go home," Sheriff Stilinski said.

"I thought I told you I wasn't going anywhere."

Jordan chuckled to himself at the strawberry blonde's persistence before walking over to where they sat.

The Sheriff stood when Jordan approached them. "We went through everything in Brunski's office, and so far everything amounts to pretty much nothing."

Jordan looked at Lydia as she stood up. Her hair was disheveled, and he couldn't decide if she had bags under her eyes or if it was just her smudged mascara. Thankfully it looked like the cut on her cheek was finally beginning to heal, however, he could see slight bruising along her jaw and neck from where Brunski gripped her face. His blood began to boil at the thought of what that man did to her, but he relaxed and unclenched his fists when his eyes focused back on her tired ones.

"Did you really not go home yet?" he asked with a concerned tone.

Lydia shook her head. "Not until Meredith starts talking."

The Sheriff sighed. "Lydia, I promise she'll talk, and when she does, I'll let you know. Trust me on this. Everybody talks eventually."

"Then let me try." Lydia looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"No, we've already discussed this," the Sheriff replied.

"I've gotten through to her before," Lydia said desperately. "Just let me try."

Sheriff Stilinski looked at Jordan helplessly. "It's worth a try I guess," Jordan said before glancing at Lydia. "Maybe she _can_ get through to her again."

"Alright," the Sheriff sighed. "You get fifteen minutes…that's all."

* * *

Lydia, Jordan, and the Sheriff stepped inside his office to question Meredith once more. Meredith was still sitting on the couch quietly and looked up at Lydia when she walked in.

"I think I'm getting an idea of how all this happened," Lydia said as she paced by the couch. "You used Brunski, right?"

Meredith stared at her with a blank expression on her face and didn't respond. Lydia continued. "You knew he'd killed people…and that he would do it again."

Lydia looked up at Jordan; his expression showed just how nervous he was. _He's afraid this will escalate like last time. That I won't be able to control my anger. He's right. Lydia, you've got to keep a level head. You need to be more gentle with her. Be patient like Parrish was. He was the one who actually got through to her, not you._

She softened her tone and sat down on the couch next to Meredith. "He used my grandmother's code for the deadpool. He put it online. He took the money from the Hale vault, then turned the bearer bonds into cash. He made the payments."

Meredith still made no response.

"Was it Brunski's idea to fake your death? Did he get nervous because you helped us with one of the cipher keys?"

"I wanted to help," Meredith finally said.

Lydia let out a sigh of relief. _I know, Meredith. Somehow I know that's true. But tell me how this was helping anybody. I just want to understand!_

"All you ever wanted to do was help," Lydia whispered.

Meredith nodded and smiled at her.

"Is that why you're here?" Lydia asked. "I know you wouldn't want to be here if you didn't want to talk."

"I do," Meredith replied. "But only to one person."

"Who?" Lydia asked hesitantly.

"Peter," she said. "Peter Hale."

Lydia shot a worried glance at the Sheriff and Jordan, who looked equally surprised. The three of them stepped out of the Sheriff's office so he could call Peter down to the station.

Jordan gently grabbed Lydia by the arm to get her attention. His eyes searched hers frantically before he spoke. "You're not serious, are you? Peter Hale? You really think it's a good idea to bring him down here to talk to her?"

"Honestly? No," Lydia said. "But we have to get her to talk, and if that's the only way to do it…" she paused, "then I don't see another way around it."

Jordan looked away for a moment before bringing his eyes back to meet hers. "How many people who have almost gotten you killed are we going to put you in a room with? Because I was already uncomfortable with one."

She shook her head. "Don't worry. He won't try anything; not here." Lydia gave him a coy smile. "Besides, I have you here to protect me."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Still, I want to go on the record as saying this is a terrible idea."

"Noted," Lydia smirked, then growing more serious she said, "it's not me I'm worried about. It's Meredith. You'll be in the interrogation room with them so watch out for her, will you? Make sure he doesn't try and hurt her. I don't know how she even knows him, but I have a feeling things could get really bad depending on the answer."

Jordan nodded. "I'll be watching. And trust me," he smiled, "I'll take any excuse I can to rough that guy up."

Lydia laughed. "Well, I certainly won't object."

* * *

Lydia stood outside the interrogation room with the Sheriff and Peter watching through the one-way glass. Jordan walked by on the other side and looked in their direction, knowing they could see him even though he couldn't see out. _I bet he doesn't like me being in here with Peter. At least not while he isn't in the same room._

Peter shook his head in disbelief. "Her?" he asked. "That's the girl that stole my money?"

Lydia clenched her jaw, restraining from slapping him across the face. "That girl," she replied slowly, "is a banshee. They're more dangerous than you think."

"Oh, I think that girl's pilot light went out a long time ago," Peter said. "Sheriff, not to question the unquestionably sterling reputation of your department, but are you absolutely sure you got the one?"

The Sheriff glared at Peter. "How about you just go in there and see what she has to say?"

Reluctantly, Peter entered the room and sat down across from Meredith. Lydia's eyes moved to Jordan, who was standing two feet away from them with his right hand resting by his gun. _He's clearly prepared for the worst._ _Calm down, Parrish, she just wants to talk to him. I'm sure everything will be okay._


	18. Chapter 18: Irrational

Summary: Lydia and Jordan learn the backstory of the Benefactor.

Based on episode 4x10

Music: Irrational by Fjord

* * *

Chapter 18: Irrational

"Okay…Meredith," Peter started. "Where's my money? Or more correctly, what's left of it."

Meredith didn't answer. With a curious expression on her face, she reached out and gently touched Peter's face. After a few seconds Peter grew angry and grabbed her frail arm in his brawny hand.

"Let her go," Jordan demanded, his hand now fully grasping his gun. Peter didn't release his grip on her or seem to acknowledge what Jordan had said. "Let…her…go," he said in a more commanding voice than Lydia had ever heard him use.

Peter finally let go, but Jordan didn't remove his hand from his weapon or relax much at all. Looking at Meredith carefully, Peter spoke. "Why did you do that?"

"They're all gone," Meredith said quietly.

"Oh my gosh." Lydia felt all the blood drain from her face. "They have met before."

"The burns," Meredith whispered. "They're all gone."

"Meredith, you put everyone, including my nephew and my daughter on a death list. Don't you think you owe us the slightest explanation of why?" Peter shouted at her.

She looked at him in confusion. "You said it had to be kept secret."

"I said?" he scoffed. "I said that to _you_?"

She nodded. "You said it."

"Meredith, allow me to remind you yet again, we have never met…ever."

"What is he doing?" Lydia shook her head.

Meredith looked frightened and anxious. "You don't remember?"

"No," Peter said. "But maybe you do."

 _No, no, no we have to do something. Peter's going to go after her. I can see it on his face. Parrish, you have to stop him!_

"No, don't!" Lydia screamed as she pounded her fists on the glass.

It was too late. Peter jumped out of his seat, flipped the table over and threw Jordan up against the wall. He grabbed Meredith by the shoulder and sunk his claws into the back of her neck.

Lydia and the Sheriff burst into the room. "Don't! Don't touch them," she yelled. "If you break the bond it could kill them…both of them."

Jordan and the Sheriff both had their guns pointed at Peter, unsure of what else to do. Seeing the look on Jordan's face, Lydia had to glance away. _I'm not sure if that look is him saying "I told you so" or apologizing for not being able to protect Meredith. Maybe a little of both._

"What are we supposed to do?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

"I, uh," Lydia stammered. "I don't know."

Jordan put his gun down and looked at Meredith in concern. "What the hell is he doing to her?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Meredith opened her eyes wide and began muttering incoherently.

"Do you hear that?" the Sheriff whispered. "She's saying something."

Jordan looked at Lydia incredulously. "Can you understand that?"

"I can," Lydia replied. "I can hear perfectly."

She leaned in closer to listen as Meredith muttered more. "She was in the hospital. The same hospital."

"Same as who?" Jordan whispered.

"Peter," Lydia replied. "It was right after the fire. Meredith could hear him."

"Hear what?" the Sheriff asked.

"Everything," she sighed. "She was hearing every thought in his head, like they'd somehow found the same wavelength. And now everything going through his mind was also going right into hers."

Sheriff Stilinski looked at her in shock. "For how long?"

"Weeks?" Lydia tilted her head closer. "Maybe even months. It was almost like he was standing right over her bed talking about the fire. About getting revenge." She took a shaky breath. "The deadpool was all his idea…a way to remake the supernatural of Beacon Hills in 'his image.' It was even his idea to use the bearer bonds to pay professional assassins."

Suddenly Peter released Meredith, causing her to fall over into Jordan's arms. Jordan examined the cuts on the back of her neck before glaring at Peter, who was sprawled across the floor from the impact of the separation. Sheriff Stilinski aimed his gun at Peter once again.

Lydia fought to maintain her composure. "It was your idea and you don't even remember."

"Are you kidding me?" Peter rolled his eyes.

"Hands where I can see them," the Sheriff demanded.

Peter pushed himself upright against the wall. "How the hell was I supposed to remember any of that?"

"She got it from you," Lydia said.

"I was out of my mind," Peter replied. "Do you know what it's like for one of us to be in a coma? Paralyzed but cognizant? You try not going crazy."

"She was listening to you," Jordan insisted. He still had his arm around Meredith, rubbing small circles into her shoulder with his thumb.

"She was listening to the ranting and raving of a lunatic," Peter raised his voice. Seeing everyone's shocked expressions, he corrected himself. "A former lunatic. I'm much healthier now." He looked over at the Sheriff. "I had nothing to do with this."

"If she was following your lead on this," Sheriff Stilinski said, "then how do we know there isn't more?"

Peter scoffed. "Stealing my own money? Really?"

"You were going to use it anyway," the Sheriff replied.

 _No, this is all wrong. We can't let a fight break out in here._

"Stop," Lydia said. "Stop it. This is what she wants. It's why she's here. Look around, Sheriff. There's three people in here right now…three people still on the deadpool. Me, Parrish, and Meredith."

"But not him," Jordan said through clenched teeth.

"Lydia's right," Peter said. "We don't want to kill each other."

"The only person I'm pointing a gun at is you," Sheriff Stilinski replied.

Peter stepped closer. "Then you better make it a perfect shot, Sheriff, because I don't go down easy."

The Sheriff cocked his gun and pointed it at Peter's head. "I'm willing to bet that a bullet between the eyes doesn't heal real fast…not even for your kind."

Lydia felt tears running down her cheeks at the sudden rushing feeling in her head. "Stop. Please…stop."

Peter smirked. "This department's getting more corrupted by the second. What are you going to charge me with, Sheriff? How are you going to explain this to a judge? Telepathic girl overhears thoughts of comatose werewolf and decides to enact his plans for retribution." He chuckled to himself. "They're gonna be pointing a gun at your head and asking you to go quietly."

"Let him go," Lydia pleaded. "You have to let him go."

"I'd take the word of a banshee, Sheriff," Peter commented with the gun still pressed against his forehead. "I leave. No triggers pulled. No blood shed."

Sheriff Stilinski reluctantly put his gun away and let Peter leave. He walked out of the room with a smirk on his face as Meredith cried out, "it's not finished," in a hysterical voice.

* * *

Lydia wrapped Jordan's deputy jacket around Meredith's shoulders and led her to the Sheriff's office to sit down and recover from what happened. She squeezed Meredith's hand gently and smiled. "Are you okay?"

When she didn't respond, Lydia answered her own question. "I guess you are, aren't you? For someone who'd put their own name on a hit list."

"I had to," Meredith insisted.

"Why?" Lydia inquired. She searched Meredith's face carefully, hoping for more answers.

"Because I heard you," she answered. "I heard you scream in the tunnels at Oak Creek."

 _She heard me scream when Allison died…_

Lydia choked back tears as Meredith continued. "That's why I knew it was the right time…to start over."

Lydia cleared her throat. "But with Peter?"

"He's the Alpha," Meredith replied. "He's always been the Alpha. He'll make it right." She paused. "It never was with us. Too many people died…because of us. We're the monsters. Even banshees – even me."

Lydia shook her head slowly. "I don't believe that," she said. "Not all monsters do monstrous things."

"Like who?" Meredith asked curiously.

"Like Scott," she replied. "Like Parrish."

Meredith looked at Lydia with tears in her eyes and reached out to cup her face. "Like you," Meredith said.

Lydia bit her lip to keep from crying herself as she managed to smile at Meredith. Suddenly Meredith's expression fell. "Oh God," she whispered. "What have I done?"


	19. Chapter 19: The Fall

Summary: Lydia and Jordan celebrate a major victory.

Takes place between 4x10 and 4x11

Music: The Fall by Ritual

* * *

Chapter 19: The Fall

Jordan stood up from his desk when he saw Lydia come out of the Sheriff's office. Her lips curled into a smile as she walked closer, stopping a couple feet away from him. "We did it," she said in almost a whisper. Then louder, she repeated herself, "We really did it. We stopped the deadpool!"

He smiled back as Lydia suddenly leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly. With her head against his chest, he could fully breathe in her floral scent. Jordan felt heat rising in his cheeks when she let go quickly, seeming to notice how he froze at her touch.

"Sorry," she stammered. "I just – "

"No, it's okay," Jordan reassured her. "You just startled me…I wasn't expecting that."

It was Lydia's turn to blush. She cleared her throat and regained her composure. "Stiles and Malia found the computers that have been disseminating the list and were able to shut it down." She paused before continuing. "The computers were in the study at the lake house."

He leaned back against his desk. "So," he smirked, "how does it feel to be a free woman?"

"Liberating," she smiled. After minute she turned more serious. "I forgot what it was like to not be afraid."

Lydia shifted nervously on her feet before speaking again. "You know what? We should celebrate."

"What'd you have in mind?" Jordan asked.

"We could go out for some dinner when your shift is over? I haven't eaten much of anything today," she replied.

"But don't you want to celebrate with the rest of your friends?" he asked curiously.

"Of course, but," Lydia twiddled her thumbs in front of her. "Well, the Sheriff is taking Stiles and Malia out for pizza. And Scott and Kira are meeting up to plan their first real date at Derek's loft. So…" she drifted off.

Jordan smiled. "I'd love to have dinner with you, Lydia. Frankly, we both need a reason to get out of the Station for a little while."

She nodded in agreement before he spoke again. "Why don't you go on home and freshen up while I'm finishing paperwork? You've been here since yesterday evening so I'm sure you'd like to shower and change clothes. I can just come pick you up after my shift ends in a couple hours."

"Sure," Lydia smiled. "I'd like that."

* * *

Lydia stepped out of the shower and wandered into her bedroom to select her dinner outfit. Skimming through her closet, her eyes settled on a peach floral skirt, a gray blouse and a baby blue cardigan. She pulled on the outfit and blow-dried her hair before curling it with a wand. With a quick nod of approval in the mirror, Lydia proceeded to apply her makeup: foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara, and her signature bright lipstick. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she decided her lips were too vibrant and wiped the lipstick off in exchange for a more muted shade. _Much better. You don't want to look like you're trying too hard. It's just a casual dinner with a friend, right?_

She threw herself backwards onto her bed in frustration. _Come_ _on, Lydia. What's the matter with you? He doesn't have feelings for you; he's a Sheriff's deputy and you're still in high school. And now that our lives aren't in danger, things will go back to how they used to be._ Lydia groaned. _Just snap out of it and enjoy dinner tonight with a **friend.** _

The sound of muffled buzzing shook her out of her thoughts. Turning over on her side, she saw her phone screen light up with Jordan's name. She quickly grabbed the phone and answered it.

"I'm done with my shift and I'm on my way," Jordan said. "I just have one question though."

"What's that?" Lydia asked.

"Do you want to have dinner with a deputy?" he asked. "Because if not, I'll need to stop by my apartment on the way over and change."

She smiled to herself. "I want to have dinner with Jordan Parrish, however he shows up."

Jordan chuckled softly. "Okay, I'll change before I pick you up. See you shortly."

* * *

Lydia rushed downstairs at the sound of the doorbell, a pair of brown wedges in hand. She slipped them on quickly before opening the front door. With a smile, she glanced Jordan over. He was wearing a pair of nice jeans and a blue V-neck, which clung slightly to his muscular torso.

Jordan looked at her with eyes that made her cheeks burn. "You look nice," he smiled. "You ready to go?"

"Not exactly," she smirked.

He looked at her curiously, prompting her to continue. "I had something else in mind," she said. "I'm going to cook. And I'm going to teach you so you can help me." Lydia playfully poked him in the arm.

Shifting on his feet and reciprocating her flirtatious attitude, Jordan folded his arms across his chest. "I'll have you know I make a mean pot of instant mac n cheese."

Lydia laughed out loud before she could stop herself, which made him smile even more. "Well, I was going for something a little bit more complex than that," she replied.

She motioned for him to come inside and led him to the kitchen. Jordan leaned against the island countertop and looked at her expectantly. "So since my suggestion wasn't advanced enough for your taste, what _did_ you have in mind?"

Lydia leaned against the other side of the island to be closer to his face for dramatic effect. "Pizza."

Jordan let out a laugh. "Pizza's complex?"

"It's more complex than mac n cheese," Lydia retorted. "And besides it's not like it's a frozen pizza. I mean to make one from scratch."

"Alright, alright," he chuckled. "What's first?"

Lydia turned around and grabbed a measuring cup from the cabinet, placing it in front of Jordan. "First, I need you to fill this with warm water."

He picked it up and nodded. "Okay, I can do that."

As per Lydia's instructions, Jordan poured the water in a large bowl and watched as she dumped a package of yeast in with the liquid. She stirred the contents in the bowl to dissolve the powder and looked up at Jordan. "Alright, now that that's done, we need to mix together the dry ingredients."

Once the dough was mixed up and allowed to rest, Lydia pulled out two stone baking dishes. They were round and flat, made specifically for pizza to be baked on. Pushing up her sleeves, she grabbed the dough and pulled it apart into two halves. She handed one to Jordan. "Here," she said. "We each get to spread out one pizza worth of the dough."

Jordan nodded and took the ball of dough from her hands, flopping it onto the dish. They sprinkled flour on their hands to keep the dough from sticking and began spreading it out thinly across the surface of the dish. After a minute Lydia looked over to check Jordan's progress.

 _What the hell! How does his look better than mine? That's not fair; mine doesn't want to thin out without tearing. Of course the one time I want to impress someone, I can't do it right._

As if he could hear her thoughts, Jordan glanced at her half of dough before looking her in the eyes. "You look like you could use some help," he smiled tenderly.

Before she could protest, Jordan moved behind Lydia and wrapped his arms around her to place his hands over her pizza in progress. "Try doing it like this," he said as he placed his hands on top of hers, moving the heels of her palms against the dough in gentle semi-circular motions. "See?" he asked.

Lydia opened her mouth, but no words came out. Jordan's biceps pressed against her shoulders and fingers intertwined with hers were enough to take her breath away. When she didn't respond, he removed his hands from hers and returned to his pizza, finishing pressing out the dough. "Sorry," he muttered.

"It's okay," she said, finally taking a normal breath since Jordan moved away. Without him pressed against her, she was able to think clearly again. "You just startled me," she paused and looked over at him with a smile, "I wasn't expecting that."


	20. Chapter 20: Marching On

Summary: Jordan follows a suspicious lead while Lydia continues to recover from the deadpool ordeal.

Based on episode 4x11

Music: Marching On by Krewella

* * *

Chapter 20: Marching On

The next day Jordan hopped into his SUV after his shift was over and input the familiar address into his GPS. He pulled up outside the apartment complex and waited patiently for his suspect of interest to emerge. Feeling a sudden buzzing sensation in his pocket, he pulled out his phone to see a text from Lydia.

 _I had fun last night. Thanks for being  
_ _there for me when the rest of the pack  
_ _was busy :)_ _. I'm glad I didn't  
_ _have to celebrate alone._

Jordan smiled down at his phone before typing his response.

 _Of course! I'm glad I got the chance  
_ _to celebrate with you._

He took a moment to look up, making sure his suspect wasn't around yet, when his phone went off again.

 _By the way, you left your jacket at my house.  
_ _You want me to bring it to the Station?_

Pursing his lips, Jordan glanced up quickly and typed his answer.

 _My shift's over so I'm actually not at  
_ _the Station right now. I'm out running  
_ _an errand, but I'll text you  
_ _when I'm back at my apartment._

This time when Jordan looked up he saw the man he was looking for walking out of the building: Peter Hale.

He watched carefully as Peter walked to his car and got inside the vehicle. Ignoring the buzzing of his phone on his thigh, Jordan put his car into drive and slowly followed Peter out of the parking lot. He followed at a healthy distance, curious to see if Peter would go to the same location as he had that morning.

Jordan turned down the gravel road and pulled up to the large, industrial facility. _It_ _ **is**_ _the same place: the water treatment plant._ He put his car into park and shifted in his seat, tapping the steering wheel with his thumbs as he thought. _What's so important about this place? Why does he keep showing up here? I just know he's up to something…and I'm gonna find out what it is._

After waiting for Peter to go inside, Jordan grabbed his gun from the passenger seat and approached the plant. He entered the building and crept down the cement passageway into the underground level of the treatment facility. With no sign of Peter, Jordan continued to wander around the corners of the complex with his gun and hand-held flashlight raised, ready to shoot if necessary.

 _I wish I had a bigger gun._

As he rounded the next corner, Jordan heard a low sound resonating from the passageway. He held up his flashlight and could make out a human silhouette against the wall.

"They're gone," the man said.

Jordan stepped closer and lowered his gun when he realized who the man was.

 _Chris Argent? Allison's dad? What are you doing here?_ He tucked his gun into the back of his jeans and more closely observed the situation. Shining his flashlight on Argent's torso, he saw a piece of rebar sticking out of his stomach, which was bent at a ninety degree angle to keep it in place. Jordan cringed at the sight of all the blood running down his abdomen.

"How long have you been like this?" Jordan asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Argent muttered. "Might have blacked out a few times."

Jordan clenched his teeth. "Peter Hale did this?"

Argent looked him in the eyes, searching his face for clues. "You were following him?"

"Since what happened with Meredith Walker, yes."

"Listen to me," Argent said in a quiet, but still determined, voice. "Kate's going after Scott. Peter and Kate. You've got to warn them."

Jordan shook his head. "I can't. There's no service down here."

"Then just go," Argent nearly growled.

"If I leave right now, you'll be dead by the time I get back." Jordan paused. "We're getting you out of here."

* * *

Lydia looked up at the sound of her name. She saw Malia sit down next to her for Economics class with a stack of stapled paper in hand.

"Lydia, did you hear me? Look! I passed." Malia proudly held up the paper and shook it for dramatic effect.

Lydia looked over at Kira's celebratory reaction before responding. "C minus," she replied inquisitively, not knowing what else to say.

 _Sure, you passed. But it's still not very good. God we have a long way to go._

Malia, not seeming to catch Lydia's underwhelmed response, went back to admiring her grade. She smiled at Lydia. "Your notes are great when they're not written in code."

As soon as Malia stopped talking, Coach slammed her Econ test on her desk. Lydia could see a large, red "F" at the top of the page.

Coach shook his head. "Disappointed, Malia…profoundly disappointed."

After he walked away Malia looked over at Lydia helplessly. With a sigh Lydia said, "I'll send you my notes."

Lydia cleared her throat and turned her attention back to the whiteboard. She froze when she read what Coach had written down.

 _Networth at time of death_

 _Adjusted for inflation_

 _John D. Rockefeller: 318 billion_

 _Cornelius Vanderbilt: 150 billion_

 _Henry Ford: 188 billion_

She tried to write down the information, but her hands were shaking and she couldn't think straight. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Kira lean closer and whisper to her. "It's over," Kira said. "The computers are off. No more assassins. No more murders. No one's dying."

Lydia bit her lip nervously. "Not yet."

 _But I can feel it. Something's coming. Someone is going to die._

* * *

Jordan reached out and grabbed the rebar with both hands. He pulled until he felt his biceps might tear and the sound of Argent's screaming became too much to handle. He quickly let go and held up his hands in an attempt to soothe the hurting man in front of him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jordan muttered as he bent over and tried to catch his breath. "I can't do it myself. It's not bending back and it's not coming out of the wall."

"Leave," Argent whispered.

Jordan straightened up once more and looked Argent in the eyes. "I can't do that either. I need you to help me. I know you're hurt and you're tired, but I need you to gather everything you've got and help me."

"I've got nothing," Argent replied in a guttural voice, as blood caught in his mouth and throat.

Jordan gripped Argent's shoulder gently. "Grab the bar, sir."

Argent shook his head and murmured, "I've got nothing left. Please, go. Just go. You're running out of time."

"You know what you need?" Jordan asked. "Adrenaline. There's two ways to get it. Fear and anger. Since you don't look like a guy who's afraid of anything, you need to get angry. You need to get so angry that your brain lets loose every bit of adrenaline it has left."

Argent shook his head again. "I'm too tired to be angry."

Jordan sighed and ran his hands through his hair. _What can I do? What can I say to make him get angry? Angry enough to help me break him out of here._ He froze. _Allison. That's it. He would get angry for the sake of someone he loved._

"Okay," Jordan said. "I don't know much about you or what you've been through. But Lydia told me some of it." He hesitated. "And I know about Allison. I know how she felt about Scott. And I think if she knew what was happening to him, she'd be pretty angry. At least angry enough to try one more time to get the hell out of here. So whatever trigger you need, if it's Allison, or your sister, or Peter, use it. Use it right now!"

Argent looked up at Jordan with tired eyes, but nodded and grabbed onto the bar. Jordan grabbed on too and clenched his teeth, pulling with every fiber of strength he possessed. As Argent screamed in pain and Jordan pulled, the bar began to slowly move. It uncurled until it was nearly straight when it suddenly ripped out of the wall and Argent's stomach. Jordan was quick to drop the bar so he could catch Argent as he slumped forward. Supporting his weak body, Jordan looked him in the eyes with a determined expression. "Let's go save Scott."


	21. Chapter 21: To the Hills

Summary: Jordan and Argent prepare to leave for Mexico. But when Lydia wants to join the mission, how will Jordan react?

Loosely inspired by episode 4x12

Music: To the Hills by Laurel

* * *

Chapter 21: To the Hills

After helping Argent climb into the passenger seat of his SUV, Jordan sat down in the driver's seat and pulled out his phone. He looked over at Argent. "Before we do anything, you need medical attention. More than I know how to give."

Argent shook his head, but Jordan stopped him. "No, I'm serious. I have an idea."

He pulled up Lydia's contact on his phone and pressed call. After several rings she picked up. "Lydia, I need your help."

"What's wrong?" she asked. He could hear the anxiety in her voice. "Parrish, is everything okay? Are you hurt?"

"No," he said quickly. "I'm not hurt, but Argent is. I'll explain everything later. Do you know where Scott's mom is?"

"Yeah, she's here with me. I'm at Scott's house because both he and Kira are missing."

"That's not good. Lydia, Scott's in trouble and we need your help before we can go after him."

"What do you need?" Lydia asked without hesitation.

Jordan turned the car on and buckled his seat belt. "Can you and Scott's mom meet me at my apartment in like fifteen minutes? Argent needs medical attention."

Once he was off the call, Jordan set his phone down on the console and shifted into drive.

He managed to help Argent into Jordan's apartment and onto the couch before Lydia and Melissa showed up. Jordan opened the door and motioned for them to come inside. "He's lost a lot of blood. I think we've minimized that as much as we can, but he really needs to be stitched up and honestly I don't trust myself to do that."

"How'd this happen?" Melissa asked, kneeling down beside Argent and lifting his shirt to view the wound.

"Peter ran him through with a piece of rebar and left him hooked onto a cement wall with it. That's how I found him."

Lydia looked at him curiously. "How _did_ you find him? Where was he that you just happened to stumble upon him?"

Jordan shifted on his feet before answering. "I was following Peter." He looked Lydia in the eyes with a tender expression. "Ever since he walked out of that interrogation room, I've been following him in my free time. I knew he had to be up to something. Apparently he's been secretly meeting with Kate in the underground tunnels of the water treatment plant."

Melissa spoke up from her position disinfecting Argent's wounds. "So how did you get him free from the bent rebar?"

He shrugged feebly. "Adrenaline?"

"No," Argent whispered from the couch, startling everyone. "It was your strength."

Jordan furrowed his brows and moved closer. "What are you talking about?"

Lydia stepped in closer as well. "You mean supernatural strength?"

"Yes," Argent nodded slightly. "Your eyes…they were glowing orange."

"What?!" Jordan jumped back in shock. "But – what does this mean?"

"I dunno," Argent mumbled.

Jordan stood up slowly, his eyes glazed over, still in shock from the news. "I'm – uh, I'm gonna go pack a few things for our trip. I'll just be in the other room if you need me."

He walked back to his bedroom and closed the door. Stepping into the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face before deciding to change clothes. His dark orange T-shirt was stained with Argent's blood and cement dust. As he pulled his shirt up and over his head, he walked back into his bedroom to grab a clean one. Jordan froze at the sound of the bedroom door opening. Lydia walked in and, seeing Jordan was shirtless, quickly looked away with flushed cheeks.

"Sorry," she said. "I should have knocked."

"It's okay." He slipped on a solid green T-shirt from his drawer and turned to face her. "What'd you need?"

She rubbed her arm nervously and looked away before answering. "I brought your jacket you left at my house…and I wanted to ask you about what happened. Down in the tunnels? You seemed pretty freaked out over what Argent said. Are you okay?"

Jordan took his jacket from her and sat down on the foot of his bed. "I guess it just made the whole thing seem more real, you know? Surviving being burned alive can be written off as lucky or a miracle. But glowing eyes? Now we're definitely into the supernatural."

"I have the feeling," Lydia started as she joined him on the bed, "that's not the only thing on your mind."

He looked up at her, searching her eyes curiously, before letting out a sigh and answering. "This time I used my powers to help someone. But we don't even know what my powers are. What if next time instead of helping, I hurt _or even kill_ someone?"

"But why would you do that?" Lydia asked. "Why would you hurt someone?"

Jordan looked at her in confusion, causing her to take his hand in hers and look him dead in the eyes. "Parrish, you're not a monster. You're still you, just with supernatural abilities. _You decide_ how you use those abilities. You just have to remember who you are and what you stand for." She squeezed his hand gently before releasing it with a smile. "I know you would never let yourself become a monster."

 _How is it possible that you believe in me more than I believe in myself? You're so incredible._

Lydia stood suddenly and Jordan realized how red her cheeks were. "I should go see if Scott's mom needs any more help."

He nodded, standing up beside her and offering a tender smile. "Thank you, for what you said. You're pretty amazing."

"No problem," she said with a smile, quickly looking away to hide her blushing face and scurrying into the other room.

After gathering a clean shirt for Argent, some food, and other travel necessities, Jordan reentered the living room to check on Melissa's progress treating Argent. "How is he?"

Melissa snapped off her latex gloves and closed up her first aid kit. "Well, he's definitely gonna need a more thorough examination later, but he should be okay for now. Those stitches should hold for a while."

Lydia and Melissa helped Argent sit up on the couch. "Parrish, can you grab me a glass of water?" Melissa asked.

"Sure." He returned moments later with the glass and handed it to her.

Melissa handed Argent the cup and a white pill. "Pain killer," she said simply. "This should help too."

Argent nodded slowly and downed the pill. He looked up at Jordan. "We need to go."

Before Jordan could answer, Lydia spoke up. "I'm coming too."

"No, you're not," he said firmly. "This mission is dangerous."

"I know," she retorted. "That's why I need to come. I'm a banshee, remember? And I'm already getting the feeling that someone's gonna die."

"Lydia, no. I'm not going to put your life in danger like this." Jordan folded his arms over his chest.

She looked him over and scoffed. "Fine, then I'll go with Stiles and the others, they're about to leave now. They wanted me to grab something for them from the high school anyways."

"And who's going to protect _you_ , Lydia? Stiles? I don't think Berserkers are fazed by baseball bats. Derek? If you're right about him dying, I don't think he's well enough to defend _himself_ , much less you. Now Scott could protect you, too bad he's the one missing."

"Exactly," Lydia spouted back, crossing her own arms in front of her. "Scott's missing. I don't care if it's dangerous, we have to find Scott."

Lydia led Melissa out the front door and slammed it before Jordan could react. He rubbed his palms up his face and looked over at Argent, who stood up at the slamming of the door.

"We should stop by my storage locker before we leave to stock up on ammo." Argent hesitated. "We're gonna need it."

Jordan nodded, picking up his keys and bag of supplies before walking out the door.


	22. Chapter 22: Until We Go Down

Summary: Lydia is trapped at the high school by a Berserker while Jordan and Argent go to Mexico to help save Scott.

Loosely inspired by episode 4x12

Music: Until We Go Down by Ruelle

* * *

Chapter 22: Until We Go Down

After dropping Melissa off at the McCall house, Lydia called Stiles on her way to the high school. "Hey, Stiles, what did you need me to get from the school again?"

"We need Kira's jacket from her locker. We're hoping Malia and Liam can get a lock on their scents."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Lydia hung up the phone and refocused on her driving.

Lydia entered the school and found Kira's locker, opening it to reveal several textbooks with her black, leather jacket hanging over them. She snatched up the jacket and took a deep breath in.

 _It definitely smells like her. That floral perfume of hers would probably stay on fabric for weeks._

"I hope this works," she muttered to herself.

Lydia froze at the sound of a low growl behind her. She ducked quickly, a Berserker's fist just missing her head. She tried to run down the hall, but it grabbed her around the waist and dragged her down to the basement. The Berserker threw Lydia into the corner and remained a few feet away, as if keeping guard. After a while, the Berserker also brought an unconscious Mason to the corner she was trapped in.

When Mason woke up several minutes later, Lydia touched his shoulder gently. "Are you okay?"

He reached up to hold his forehead. "My head – ow."

"Yeah," Lydia said, "it's probably gonna hurt a lot."

"There was this guy," Mason started. "Huge, really huge. He had a, a skull on his face."

"Yeah, I know. I saw it too."

Mason patted his pockets nervously. "My phone's gone."

Lydia sighed. "Yeah, I think that's the point."

"Okay. Well, wait," he said in confusion, "what's he gonna do to us?"

"I don't know." Lydia shook her head. "But it definitely doesn't want us to leave."

"Lydia, why do you keep saying _it_?"

Before she could answer, a loud growl emanated from down the hall. Mason peered around the corner. "What is that thing?" he asked.

Lydia stared down the hall and shook her head. "Not human."

* * *

Jordan floored his SUV out of the parking lot at the storage unit. He glanced over at Argent as he slowed down for a red light. "Is there anything else we need? I don't have much experience with Berserkers so I have no idea."

"No," Argent said with a grim expression. "But there is an old friend we need to stop and see on the way." He clarified when Jordan shot him a confused look. "The Calaveras. They're another family of hunters based out of Mexico. They've been looking for Kate for months. A few weeks ago I made a deal with their leader Araya that I would help them look for Kate if they left Scott and the pack alone. Considering the fact we know exactly where Kate is right now, I think I can convince her to give us some much-needed backup."

"How much backup are we talking about?" Jordan glanced over at Argent again.

Argent shifted in his seat and put his hand to his side. "Plenty."

* * *

"I don't hear it," Lydia whispered softly. She looked over at Mason. "Come on." She gestured down the hall with the nod of her head.

"No, no," Mason said. "There's only one way out on this side of the basement."

"I know," she said in frustration. "But if we don't get out of here, someone's going to die."

Mason furrowed his brows and glanced at her curiously. "How do you know that?"

"I just do," Lydia snapped. "We have to at least see if he's blocking the exit."

He sighed and leaned forward to look down the hallway. Mason jumped back against the wall and glanced at Lydia. "Yeah, he's blocking it."

"Okay." Lydia stepped over to a metal bin filled with baseball bats and held two of them up in front of her.

"Are you serious?" Mason asked.

"Very," Lydia replied.

"A baseball bat?" Mason's voice rose in concern. "Against that guy? Or thing or whatever it is."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "My friends are in trouble. And so is Liam, your best friend. They need me. I'm going for it." She turned her attention down the hallway. "And yes, with a baseball bat."

Before she was halfway to the Berserker, Mason ran up behind her with a baseball bat in hand as well. They both attacked the Berserker with the bats and were easily swatted away, sliding them back into their corner and hitting their heads against the wall.

"I thought you said it wanted to keep us here, not hurt us," Mason groaned.

"I think it changed its mind," Lydia cried.

She froze at the sound of a familiar voice coming from behind the Berserker.

"Excuse me," the Sheriff said. When the Berserker turned around, he finished his sentence. "Catch," he said before throwing a small object into its hands and ducking around the corner.

With a gasp, Lydia and Mason scrambled to hide behind the nearest wall. After a moment, there was a loud explosion. Once the dust settled some, they stood up and walked over to Sheriff Stilinski.

"You both okay?" the Sheriff asked.

They nodded as the Sheriff leaned down to pick up the animal skull from the floor, examining it in his hands.

"It was after me," Lydia said, staring down at the Berserkers remains. "It wanted me to stay in Beacon Hills. I think this was all some sort of distraction."

Sheriff Stilinski looked at her understandingly. "Because you knew they're trying to kill someone."

"Kill who?" Mason asked.

"Scott."

* * *

Jordan pulled up to La Iglesia behind the Calaveras' cars of men with machine guns. As soon as he stopped the car, Argent was out shooting at Berserkers. Jordan took several shots out the driver's window before joining Argent.

 _He's still weaker than usual from his injury. I need to stay by him to make sure he's okay and not pushing himself too hard._

He followed Argent to a short rock wall and crouched behind it with him, shooting Berserkers with every bullet he had.

After several minutes of gunfire, Jordan decided to move closer. "I'm gonna take point. Shoot from the front of that van, okay?"

Argent nodded between rounds. "I'll cover your back."

Jordan moved to the van, shooting at a Berserker in front of one of the crumbling buildings. No matter how many times he hit it, the creature wouldn't go down. He turned back around to face Argent. "They're not going down! Nothing's getting through that armor and I'm running out of ammo."

His attention was directed away from Argent by the sound of a wolf howling. He spun his head in the direction of the noise and saw a massive black wolf leaping over the rubble of a building. Jordan furrowed his brows as the wolf tackled Kate to the ground, tearing at her with its strong teeth.

After several bites from the animal, it released her. As she tried to crawl away, the wolf appeared to be shape shifting. Jordan lowered his gun at the sight of the wolf morphing into a man.

 _Derek? What the hell, man?_

Kate looked just as in shock as he did. "You were…you were dead."

"No." Derek shook his head with a smile. "I was evolving. Something you'll never do."

As soon as he finished speaking, a Berserker came up to him with weapons raised. Derek grabbed the animal skull and ripped it in two, causing the Berserker to explode on the spot.

 _Whoa! Where have you been all this time? We've been wasting bullets._

Jordan saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Argent leaned himself against a stone wall and aimed his gun at a staggering Kate. He fired the gun and hit Kate in the leg, knocking her back to the ground. She looked up at him with sad eyes. "Chris?" Jordan looked over to see Argent choking back tears and struggling to ignore the pain in his abdomen before rushing after Kate as fast as he could manage.

Grabbing more ammo from his SUV, Jordan ran after Argent. By the time he caught up with him, Argent was standing alone inside one of the buildings, gripping his stomach in pain. When Jordan stepped closer he could see Argent's eyes were moist from crying. "Where's Kate?" Jordan asked.

Argent shook his head. "She's gone, for now. I doubt she'll get very far though."

Jordan lowered his gun. "We should get you back to the car," he said, "so we can check on your wounds."

With a nod, Argent followed Jordan back out of the old, crumbling building. When they arrived at the cars, they saw Scott and the others emerging from the church. Scanning his eyes over their faces, Jordan froze.

 _Where's Lydia?_


	23. Chapter 23: Wildest Dreams

Summary: Jordan returns from Mexico in search of Lydia.

Loosely inspired by episode 4x12

Music: Wildest Dreams by Simply Three & Alyson Stoner

* * *

Chapter 23: Wildest Dreams

Jordan walked up to Stiles. "Where's Lydia? I thought she was coming with you guys."

"No – well, she was supposed to. She went to the high school to grab Kira's jacket so Malia and Liam could lock in on her scent, but then we couldn't get a hold of Lydia and we had to go ahead and leave. My dad called right after we got here and I asked him to go over there and investigate." Stiles looked away briefly and fiddled with his hands awkwardly. "I think Kate sent a Berserker to trap Lydia at the school. She turned Scott into a Berserker and she knew Lydia would know that Scott was about to die. She didn't want _us_ to know we were about to kill Scott. But Lydia should be okay. I told my dad to bring a lot of firepower."

"Braeden and Argent brought a lot of firepower," Jordan replied nervously. "What do you think your dad could have brought that we didn't try tonight?"

Stiles threw his hands up in the air. "I have no idea, but I trust him and his thinking skills to come up with something clever."

Jordan shook his head. "That's not good enough."

"Look," Stiles said, "I don't know what you want me to say. Am I worried my dad didn't have enough firepower? Yes. Am I going out of my freaking mind worrying about her? Hell yeah I am. So don't tell me that's not good enough – because it's the only way to keep my sanity until we get home."

Reluctantly Jordan nodded his head. _He's right, and you know it._

Scott walked over after talking to Argent. "We need to hurry and get Peter back to Beacon Hills. We have enough yellow wolfsbane to keep him out for the trip, but I don't want to push our luck." Scott turned to Stiles. "If Parrish and I ride in the prison transport van with Peter, can you drive Malia, Kira, and Liam? I don't want them riding in the back with Peter, even if he is unconscious."

Stiles nodded. "Sure, I can do that."

By the time they hit the road, the sun was peeking over the horizon. _I can't believe we've been up all night._

For the lengthy ride home, Jordan mostly asked Scott questions about the supernatural and how Scott and his pack reached their current state. When he wasn't focused on their conversation, he couldn't keep his mind off Lydia. Despite Stiles' attempt to ease his mind, he couldn't stop worrying that something had happened to her. _What if the Berserker didn't just trap her? What if she's hurt or dead…What if the Sheriff is?_

Once they were back to Beacon Hills, Jordan drove to the Sheriff's Station. Several deputies and the Sheriff met them outside to grab Peter and throw him in a holding cell until they could get a hold of Eichen House.

Sheriff Stilinski walked over to Jordan and clapped him on the back. "There's someone inside who's been waiting all night for you guys to return. Some more than others," the Sheriff said with a sly smile.

Jordan burst into the Sheriff's Station and smiled at the sight before him. Lydia was asleep sitting straight up on the bench outside the Sheriff's office. He walked over to her and gently shook her by the shoulder. At close range he noticed she was using a deputy's jacket as a blanket…his jacket. He smiled to himself. _I guess I left it here after my shift yesterday._

Her eyes fluttered open as she fought to process her surroundings. Jordan smiled at her. "I'm starting to think I should just keep a cot for you at my desk."

Lydia opened her eyes all the way at the sound of his familiar voice. "Parrish!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

This time he wasn't so surprised and hugged her back. Jordan released her from the hug so he could look her in the eyes. "I'm glad you're okay. I was really worried something had happened to you."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You were right. I got into enough danger here as it was. And I tested out your baseball bat theory. It's true, they don't faze Berserkers."

"Oh gosh," Jordan said, half concerned half laughing.

"But it's all okay," Lydia quickly added, "because the Sheriff came and blew the Berserker up with a land mine."

"Land mine," Jordan chuckled. "Well, we definitely didn't try that. Stiles was right, Sheriff Stilinski is a very clever man."

"Yeah," Lydia said, "but I have the feeling Mason is going to have a lot of questions for Liam pretty soon."

Jordan shook his head. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

He scanned over her petit frame, covered in dust from the Berserker fight, and grew concerned again. Her eyes looked red and tired, and she seemed generally unsettled.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "I don't mind to take you home so you can shower and get some rest."

"No, it's okay," Lydia said. "I actually drove myself here, but thank you, Parrish."

Jordan looked at her in shock. "So, you mean to say you've been here all night on purpose?"

She glanced down at her feet and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, I have. I was worried about you – all of you."

He could see the slight shade of pink in her cheeks as she cleared her throat and continued. "Anyway, now that I know you guys are safe, I'm going to go home and shower and take a nap. I'll be back later."

"You don't have to-" he started, but she interrupted him.

"I want to," she said quickly. "Actually, I have something to give you."

Jordan nodded. "Okay."

After saying goodbye, Jordan went to his desk and sat down, anxiously filing through papers as he awaited her return. About four hours later he looked up to see the pretty redhead walking towards his desk. Her hair was unstyled and air-dried, she had on minimal makeup, and she looked significantly more awake than before.

"You look like you feel better now," Jordan commented.

Lydia smiled. "I do. It's amazing what a nap and a shower can do for you."

He was about to say something, but Lydia held up a hand and glanced behind her. "Wait, before I forget. I have something for you." She moved beside his desk and sat down in a chair close by, which she relocated to be next to his. "This used to be on a hard drive," Lydia said as she pulled a decently sized book out of her tote bag. "But we eventually decided it might be a good idea to have a hard copy around. So we put it in a book." Lydia held out the book to him.

He took it in his hands and glanced up at her. "What is it?"

"It's called the Bestiary," Lydia said as Jordan flipped open the book. "Whatever you are, it might be in here."

Jordan looked Lydia in the eyes and noticed her searching his face. She smiled. "I'd like to help you figure it out," she said softly.


	24. Chapter 24: Intro

Summary: Jordan runs into trouble on a noise complaint call and Lydia goes to Senior Scribe with the rest of the pack.

Based on episode 5x01

Music: Intro by RHODES

* * *

Chapter 24: Intro

 _six months later…_

Jordan scrambled to answer the phone as the other deputies ran back and forth across the Station. There was a big storm causing electrical problems all over the county and now yet another person was calling about it. He picked up the phone. "Yes, ma'am," he said, "we're having trouble with the power as well. It's most likely related to the storm."

He hung up the phone just as Sheriff Stilinski was calling his name. "Parrish!" Jordan picked up his jacket in anticipation of whatever important job the Sheriff had for him. "Check the backup generator and make sure it's fueled." Jordan tossed his jacket back onto his chair in frustration. "And Parrish," the Sheriff started, "answer the phone!"

 _Have you not noticed the phone has been ringing_ _ **constantly**_ _for the past two hours, and that it's the same exact situation every time? "Yes, we know the city's having electrical problems. No, we can't fix it because it's from the storm."_

After reluctantly taking the next phone call and checking the generator, Jordan stepped into the Sheriff's office. "Six months," he said. "Six months of directing traffic, doing courthouse security, serving subpoenas, and today I finished a total organizational overhaul of evidence lock-up. Now I'm stuck behind the front desk while there's downed power lines, a jackknifed tractor-trailer, and reports of gunshots downtown." Jordan shook his head. "I don't know what I did to lose your trust, but you need every available deputy out there."

The Sheriff sighed and pulled out a paper from the stack on his desk. "Okay, got something for you." He handed the document to Jordan.

Skimming over the document, Jordan looked up at the Sheriff. "A noise complaint?"

"Yeah," Sheriff Stilinski said. "Somebody would make a noise. Somebody else complained about it. Check it out."

Fifteen minutes later, Jordan pulled up to the address on the noise complaint, a white mansion-style home, which appeared to be abandoned. He walked up to the front door with a flashlight in hand. It opened with a loud creak as Jordan stepped into the house. "Hello?" he called out, pointing his flashlight in every corner of the room. "This is the Beacon County Sheriff's Department."

Hearing no reply, Jordan walked around the main floor of the house until he found a door, which led down into a basement. He went down the stairs with his gun raised, still holding the flashlight against it with his free hand.

When he got to the bottom of the staircase, he heard a soft thud. He followed the sound to a cinderblock wall. "Hello?" he called out, and then again, louder. "Hello!"

Still hearing the thud, he leaned closer to the wall until he heard a loud thud, which seemed to shake the whole wall. "Hey! Hey, can you hear me?" He was answered with more insistent thuds. "Okay, okay, I'm going to get you out of there. I'm coming right back. Just hang on!"

He ran back outside to his squad car as quickly as his legs would carry him and opened his toolbox, pulling out a pickaxe he could break apart the cinderblocks with. Once he had the tool in hand, he rushed back inside to the wall. The thuds were more frantic than ever. "I'm here!" he called out. "Back up if you can!"

Jordan slammed the tip of the tool into the wall. It barely made a dent. _Well, this is going to take forever._ He hit the wall again, but he stopped just as he was about to hit it a third time. A thick, black liquid started to ooze from the divot in the wall. Jordan leaned in close, staring at it curiously, when the wall began to crack, spewing the black liquid in Jordan's face. He tried to wipe it off and see what it was, but suddenly the whole wall broke open and a large arm reached out, grabbing Jordan by the neck and lifting him in the air.

A tall man who appeared to be a werewolf emerged from the wall. Jordan looked down and saw his claws. _Wow, Scott's claws are like half that size._ To make things weirder, the claws started glowing blue. But before Jordan could react, the man thrust his claws into Jordan's stomach, causing him to call out in pain. The werewolf's eyes glowed briefly before he cocked his head to the side. "Not a werewolf," he said. "But you're something."

He threw Jordan down to the ground in a heap, flashing a sick smile. "Now you're no ordinary creature, Deputy. But then, neither am I…not tonight."

The werewolf held up his glowing, blue claws and looked at Jordan. "I'll let you live if you answer one question. Where's Scott McCall?" the tall werewolf demanded, half-growling through his deadly fangs.

 _I can't tell him. He'll kill Scott if I give him the chance._

Jordan glared up at the bizarre creature. "Never heard of him."

* * *

"Thank God," Lydia said. "Where have you guys been? The whole senior class is here. Are we doing this or not?"

Lydia and the others walked into the library and got in line to write their initials on the bookshelves. Lydia went after Stiles, grabbed the Sharpie and wrote "L.M." on the metal shelf. Scott went last. After writing his initials, he hesitated, and then wrote "A.A." underneath his.

 _Allison Argent. She should be here with us. I never thought I would be facing senior year without her – without my best friend._

She looked over at Malia and Kira's grieved expressions. _I may not have Allison, but I do have some pretty great friends. Kira's so sweet and loving, just like Scott. And Malia has grown so much since I met her almost a year ago. She's starting to think more of others and she's been really good for Stiles. After everything he's been through, he needs someone to support him like that. Someone who doesn't judge or blame him for what happened…I've forgiven him, I know I have, but I'm not sure I could ever really block out his connection to Allison's death. I'm glad he's with someone who doesn't have to fight to look past all of that._

When Scott moved to Kira's side and looked up at the rest of the group, Stiles looked at him with a soft expression. "She would have been with us."

"Yeah," Scott muttered in barely more than a whisper.

Lydia offered a slight smile. "She still is."


	25. Chapter 25: Who We Are

Summary: Jordan runs into trouble on a noise complaint call and Lydia goes to Senior Scribe with the rest of the pack.

Based on episode 5x01

Music: Who We Are by Tristan Prettyman

* * *

Chapter 25: Who We Are

Sharp claws ripped through the muscle of his chest. Screaming in pain, Jordan looked up and saw the werewolf was gone. Blood dripped down his torso as he reached for his radio.

"Dispatch, offi – officer down," he called into the handheld device. No response, just static.

 _If I don't get help soon I'm going to die! I can barely move and I'm losing a lot of blood._

His vision started to blur and narrow when he heard a familiar voice.

"Jordan?"

 _Lydia?_

He looked and saw her standing across the room with a worried expression on her face. Her red lips tightened as her face grew tense and eyebrows peaked.

"Jordan, I'm here."

 _How are you here right now, Lydia? Don't you only find the dead ones?_

She rushed over to his side and knelt before him, looking him in the eyes.

"I'm right here."

 _I can't die, not now. I can't leave you, Lydia. I told myself I'd watch out for you. I can't do that if I'm dead!_

She reached out and gently brushed her fingertips across his wounds. Her touch on his exposed flesh was electrifying, but he could see the concern in her face. She knew he was dying too.

"Stay with me," she whispered, now much closer to his face. He could hear the pleading in her voice as it almost cracked.

 _I'm trying._

Lydia leaned closer and he could see she meant to kiss him. Her full, pouty lips parted slightly as she closed her eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder.

 _I've wanted this for so long. In everything I've been through she's always the one to keep me sane. She has stuck with me, despite the crazy stuff that's been happening to me._ _If I die, just please let me have this._

He could feel her warm breath across his lips and smell the perfume on her skin.

Then he heard a voice. "Parrish!"

He opened his eyes and saw the Sheriff rushing towards him. Looking around, there was no trace of Lydia, but his vision was blurring and suddenly everything faded to black.

* * *

As Lydia sat down in her car, she noticed she had a phone call from Sheriff Stilinski. Quickly picking up the device, she pressed the green button and held it up to her face with a shaky hand. "Sheriff, what's wrong?"

"It's Parrish…he's hurt. I think he got attacked by something on a noise complaint call. Can you meet me at the hospital?"

Lydia turned her key in the ignition, bringing the engine to life. "I'm on my way."

When she arrived at the hospital, she headed towards the morgue, which was their usual meeting spot. As she walked down the hall, she saw the Sheriff and Melissa enter the morgue. Jogging to the room, she burst in to see them setting Jordan down on an examination table. He appeared to be unconscious and his chest was covered in blood and large claw marks.

"What happened?" Lydia cried as her hands shot up to cover her mouth.

Melissa looked over at the Sheriff as she helped lay Jordan down. "You said you were gonna keep him on desk duty."

The Sheriff shrugged and shook his head. "Yeah, it was just a minor noise complaint."

"He's not on fire, is he?" Melissa asked.

"On fire?" Lydia spouted, nervously looking from Melissa to the Sheriff. She looked at Jordan's body and could see what looked like smoke rising from his skin.

Sheriff Stilinski raised his eyebrows. "Not that I know of…"

"You know, maybe it's part of his healing process?" Melissa said as she leaned against the table.

"Maybe what is?" Lydia asked.

Before anyone could answer her, Jordan suddenly sat bolt upright and stood from the table. Sheriff Stilinski moved between Jordan and Melissa and raised his gun. Lydia looked over at him in shock. "Is that really necessary?!"

Jordan stood with his back to them for a second, his shoulders heaving as he was clearly out of breath. When he turned around, he was glaring at them with glowing, golden-orange eyes. He took a few deep breaths as the color faded from his eyes and he seemed to relax. Melissa calmed the Sheriff down and got him to lower his gun.

"Parrish, are you alright?" Lydia asked, slowly stepping closer.

He looked at her curiously before glancing down at his chest and sliding his fingertips along the red lines where there had been claw marks minutes before.

"You healed," she whispered incredulously.

Seeming not to hear her, Jordan pulled his hand away from his chest and stared at his fingertips before whipping his head up and looking at them in concern. "Scott. We need to find Scott."

The Sheriff held up a hand. "First, tell us what happened. Who did this to you?"

Jordan explained about the man bursting through the wall and asking about Scott. "I thought he was a werewolf, but now I'm not so sure. His claws were different…twice the size of Scott's – more like talons."

"If that's the worst part," Melissa said, "that doesn't sound too bad."

"It's worse," Jordan said and shook his head. "They did something to me. I don't know how to describe it other than it felt as if the life was being drawn out of me through them. Through the claws."

"Wait, what?" Lydia cried anxiously.

"And now he's looking for Scott?" Melissa asked.

"Which got me thinking about what this guy can do. The rule is you have to kill an Alpha to steal their power, right?"

"But it's different for Scott," Melissa commented.

"Yeah," Lydia agreed. "Remember? You can't steal a True Alpha's power."

Jordan looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I think this guy can."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lydia saw a head listening in around the corner. She marched over to the door and was surprised to see Liam standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting until my dad's shift is over so he can take me home." Liam glanced in the morgue before looking back at Lydia. "Scott's in trouble, isn't he?"

Lydia nodded.

"I'll go warn him," Liam said.

As he started to rush away, Lydia grabbed his arm. "Wait, it's the full moon. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Liam said with a nod. She let go and watched him run off before walking back into the morgue.

After informing everyone that Liam was going to warn Scott, Lydia turned her attention back to Jordan. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He looked at her, searching her eyes carefully, and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Apparently I can heal myself without even trying…so that's a plus."

Lydia let out a laugh. "Whatever makes the situation easier to deal with. Honestly, you're handling the whole thing better than I expected. Better than I handled my own supernatural journey of discovery, that's for sure."

"Hey, I've got it easy," Jordan chuckled. "I just keep getting injured and blacking out." His expression turned more serious. "I'm sure hearing voices you didn't understand and finding dead bodies was a lot harder to process."

She smiled grimly. "Yeah, I can't argue with you there. But, I know it's hard for you too, especially with your job." Lydia reached out to give his arm a comforting squeeze. "I promise, we're going to figure this out. It may just take some time."

"I believe you," he said softly as he looked into her eyes.

"In the meantime," Lydia said, "how about I give you a ride home so you can get cleaned up and rest?"

Jordan smiled. "Sounds perfect."


	26. Chapter 26: Run and Hide

Summary: Jordan helps Stiles run a background check on the Raekens and Lydia meets another supernatural at the high school.

Based on episode 5x02

Music: Run and Hide by Sabrina Carpenter

* * *

Chapter 26: Run and Hide

The next day at work, Jordan noticed Stiles and the Sheriff walk into his office, bickering over something. They closed the door most of the way, but from his desk right in front of the office, he could just hear them talking through the crack.

"Alright, I know his family lived here around the time Theo was nine or ten. His older sister got in an accident when he was eight – "

"Please go to school," the Sheriff begged.

"Dad, this kid is a werewolf."

"Your best friend is a werewolf," Sheriff Stilinski said. "You are dating a werecoyote. I still don't know what Kira's supposed to be. When the flying monkeys come soaring through this station, you will have my undivided attention. Until then, just go to school."

Their conversation became more muffled for a minute before Jordan heard the Sheriff shout. "For the love of God, Stiles, just go to school!"

"I will go if you promise to do a full background check of the Raekens," Stiles said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"No." The Sheriff shook his head indignantly. "You know, just because I'm the only law enforcement officer who knows anything about this, _does not_ make it my responsibility to do something every time you have a minor suspicion."

"Except you're not the only one," Stiles replied.

Jordan continued to sift through paperwork, pretending he didn't hear any of the conversation. He jerked his head up when the Sheriff called his name. "Parrish!"

He jumped out of his chair and rushed into the Sheriff's office. "Yes, sir?"

"I need you to run a full background check on the Raekens. See what you can dig up."

"Yes, sir," Jordan replied and went back to his desk.

He pulled up information on the computer as Stiles stared over his shoulder. "So," Jordan began, "you wanna tell me why we're looking into these people?" He lowered his voice before saying, "I heard you say the son is a werewolf."

"Yeah, he went to the same school as me and Scott in the fourth grade. But," Stiles hesitated, "I remember Theo from the fourth grade…and I don't think that's him."

Jordan furrowed his brow as he continued to look through the database on the computer. "Well, I'm not really finding anything. Here's the records from buying their house and from when they sold it and moved away from Beacon Hills. Oh, here. There's a speeding ticket signed by Mr. Jonathan Raeken from eight years ago." He continued looking for several minutes before giving up. "I'm not finding anything suspicious and nothing else popped up. Sorry if that wasn't very helpful."

"It's okay," Stiles said, clapping Jordan on the back. "Thanks for looking." He started to walk away when he froze. "Actually, you think I can get a copy of the speeding ticket? I want to compare the signature."

"Sure," Jordan replied, printing out the document. "What are you going to compare it to?"

"Theo's transfer form. His dad should have had to sign it."

Jordan sighed as he handed the document to Stiles. "I guess I probably shouldn't ask how you plan to get ahold of that."

"Good call," Stiles said with a thumbs up gesture before leaving the Station.

* * *

Lydia was pulling her textbook and binder out of her backpack when she heard a book slam down on the table next to hers and looked up. She saw Scott sitting down next to Kira at the neighboring lab station. Lydia and Kira looked at each other in confusion, each prodding the other to ask him what he was doing there.

 _You ask him! You're his girlfriend; it'll sound better coming from you._

Lydia nodded firmly in Scott's direction, finally convincing Kira to ask him.

"Scott?" Kira whispered. "Are you in the right class?"

"AP Biology," Scott replied with raised eyebrows.

Noticing Kira's anxious expression Lydia chimed in. "Do you know what AP stands for?"

"Advanced Placement," Scott chuckled, opening up his textbook, which was already filled with sticky notes and highlighter.

Lydia and Kira raised their eyebrows at each other. _Well, okay. Maybe he can do this._ She was shaken from her thoughts by the teacher entering the room.

"Welcome to AP Biology; I'm Ms. Ramsey. Let's see who's awake. Can somebody tell me what plasmids are?" the teacher asked as she leaned against her desk.

Lydia spoke up. "Circular self-replicating DNA molecules. Often used in cloning proteins."

"Nicely stated, Lydia," Ms. Ramsey said. "Now, can you tell me what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein?"

"Uh," Lydia froze.

"B12," Ms. Ramsey replied. "Mr. McCall, did you know the answer?"

He looked up at her slowly. "Um…no."

"It's a common test question. What's your number one college pick?"

"Um…" Scott muttered.

"Stop saying 'um,'" Ms. Ramsey spouted.

"Sorry," he apologized with the shake of his head. "UC Davis."

"Good choice," she said. "It's the best school on the West Coast for biological and physical sciences. You're in the right class, if that's what you're hoping for. Who else here thinks they're in the right class?"

Lydia raised her hand, along with the others. When she glanced around the room, she noticed a boy sitting in the back with a sly smile on his face. As she moved her attention back to the front of the room, she made eye contact with Kira, who was mouthing something to her. "That's Theo," she mouthed and nodded towards the boy in the back with the smirk on his face.

 _Great, that's just what we needed, more distractions for Scott._

After class was dismissed, Lydia was walking down the hall to her locker when she noticed another senior, Tracy, standing by her open locker. When she got closer she noticed Tracy gripping the locker with claws, clearly in distress. "Tracy?"

When she didn't respond, Lydia repeated herself. "Tracy? You alright?"

Tracy looked around in confusion, as if she had just been awakened from a dream. "How about we go outside?" Lydia suggested. "Get some fresh air?"

Tracy nodded slowly as Lydia put an arm around her and lead her away from her locker. She explained her nightmare and the scene in the guidance counselor's office as they walked around outside for a little while before Lydia decided to take Tracy to go talk to her mom. She stopped just outside Natalie's office and held up a hand. "Tracy, why don't you wait out here? I'll be right back."

Lydia walked up to her mom and leaned both her hands against her desk. "Mom, we need to talk about Tracy."

"Tracy?" Natalie asked curiously. "She'll be okay. I just talked to her this morning. She has night terrors, but I don't see any reason to be more concerned."

"I know what Parasomnia is, Mom. But," Lydia said, lowering her voice to a whisper, "what about the feathers?"

"People with night terrors have done far stranger things than…eating their own pillows," Natalie said as Lydia rolled her eyes and puffed out a breath of air. "And anyway, I already told her to take the rest of the day off, but she said she didn't want to miss the first day."

"Let me try," Lydia suggested. When Natalie scoffed, she continued. "I don't have any more classes! I can take her home and talk to her."

"Lydia," Natalie said. "She's having trouble sleeping. If she needs help beyond that, we will get her _professional_ help. Got it?"

 _Professional, huh? I can think of someone to help. Someone whose job is to protect and serve…_

Lydia smiled brightly. "I couldn't agree more."


	27. Chapter 27: Paper Light

Summary: Jordan and Lydia try to figure out Tracy's supernatural situation.

Based on episode 5x02

Music: Paper Light Revisited by Loreen

* * *

Chapter 27: Paper Light

Jordan was sitting at his desk when Lydia walked into the Station. He stood up to greet her. "Hey, Lydia. What's up?"

"I need a favor – well, I have something for you to investigate," Lydia said.

His eyebrows peaked in interest. "What's that?"

She explained the situation with Tracy and her night terrors, also how she noticed Tracy clawing up her locker, which she didn't mention to her mother. "I thought you could go with me over to her house to check it out…see how much of her night terror actually happened?"

Jordan closed the files in front of him and nodded. "Sure, I can go check it out."

When they arrived at Tracy's house, she led them back to her bedroom so Jordan could investigate the "scene of the crime." He walked over to the window and unlatched it, opening it and examining the frame. "I don't see any signs of an attempted forced entry. The latch seems okay." He turned around after closing the window back. "You said something about birds, Tracy?"

"The bird was at the skylight…the one that woke me up," Tracy replied.

"Can I take a look?" Jordan asked.

Tracy nodded as Jordan pulled out her desk chair to stand on. Stepping up onto the chair, he noticed Lydia move closer and put a hand on it. He smirked down at her. "What? You gonna catch me if I fall?"

"Maybe." Lydia bit her lip and attempted to hide her blushing cheeks. "I'm stronger than you think."

"I don't doubt that." He smiled and looked back up at the skylight. After looking at the framework of the glass, he called down, "Tracy, you said the skylight was sealed for weatherproofing?"

"Yeah, why?" she replied nervously.

Jordan flipped the latch and pushed up, opening the window. He looked down at Tracy curiously. Standing taller on his toes, Jordan looked out on the roof in shock.

The roof was covered in dozens of dead ravens and scratch marks like they had been trying desperately to get inside.

"Anything?" Lydia called up.

When he looked down at her, she clearly read the concern in his face. He glanced over at Tracy, who looked like she was about to have a panic attack, and decided not to say anything.

"No, nothing," he said. Jordan gave Lydia a look that implied he would tell her later, before closing the skylight back.

As they walked out of the house, Jordan explained what he saw to Lydia. "I can't do anything official right now, but I can come back after my shift tonight and watch the house for a couple hours."

"I'll keep you company," Lydia suggested.

"I think I'll be okay," Jordan chuckled. _As awesome as that sounds, you have other things you should be worried about right now. Let me take care of this._

Lydia pursed her lips and eyed him carefully. "But, this is your own time."

He looked away briefly before answering. "I wouldn't do it if I didn't think something strange was going on." He nodded his head and added, "I also owe you."

"For what?" Lydia laughed.

"Three weeks of digging through every piece of old literature and mythology trying to figure out the something strange going on with me."

Lydia folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. "But we never figured it out. Besides," she said with a flirtatious smile. "I'll bring you coffee."

"Don't you have school tomorrow?" Jordan asked, unable to contain his smile.

"One class," Lydia smirked.

 _One class? How is that possible? You didn't get held back or anything, did you?_

"How can you only have one class?"

Lydia shrugged. "I had enough credits to graduate last year. I'm retaking AP Biology so I can graduate with all of my friends." She put her hands on her hips. "And I will bring you coffee at midnight if I want to."

 _Lydia has to be the most stubborn girl I know. I'm definitely not winning this one. I mean – having her company? I'm definitely winning there…just not the argument._

"Medium Americano…black," Jordan said with a sly smile.

He turned to get into his squad car with a smirk. _You may have won the argument, but I still got in the last word._

* * *

Lydia grabbed her purse from the armchair in the living room and rushed out to her car. _11:45. I've gotta hurry if I'm going to be able to pick up our coffee and get to Tracy's house by midnight._

She sat down in the driver's seat of her car and pulled out her phone to text Jordan.

 _Be there at midnight with Americano, black._

Lydia drove to the coffee shop and picked up their drinks: a black Americano for Jordan and a vanilla latte for herself. She pulled up to Tracy's house and stepped out of her car with the two drinks. Walking over to Jordan's SUV, Lydia leaned in close to the open driver's side window.

"One medium Americano…black."

Jordan spun his head around at the sound of her voice. He smiled and took the drink from her hands. "Thank you," he smiled as he got out of the car. "You know you didn't have to do this. It's awfully late."

Lydia flashed a flirtatious smile. "Actually, you see banshees don't sleep. We're too busy listening to strange voices and finding dead bodies."

He chuckled at her sly expression. "Hey, watch what you say. You know I'm new to all of this. I almost believed you." His expression turned serious again as he sipped the fresh coffee and leaned against his car. Jordan looked up from his cup into Lydia's eyes and smiled. "Seriously, thank you. I appreciate it more than you know."

"Wow," she smiled, gently biting her lip and raising her eyebrow. "That must be a much better cup of coffee than I remember."

Jordan laughed, almost choking on the hot beverage, and grinned at her. "I wasn't talking about the coffee, although it is very good."

She smiled sheepishly, trying to laugh off her mistake. When she turned her eyes to him again she noticed him watching her every move with great care. Lydia blushed as he continued.

"I mean thank you for being there for me. You've seen the bizarre stuff happening to me, and yet you're not afraid of me. You just as easily could have decided to avoid me…to see me as a monster and not a man." He paused and sipped his coffee before continuing. "I know we haven't figured out what I am yet, but I know with your help, we'll get there."

Lydia's eyes fought to look away, to look somewhere…anywhere but his face. She struggled to contain her tears, both to preserve her makeup, but also to hide her weaknesses. One runaway tear finally trickled down her face despite her best efforts and a small cry escaped her lips. Seeing Lydia's tears, Jordan set his coffee on the curb so he could give her his full attention.

He placed his index finger beneath her chin and gently turned her to face him. "What's wrong, Lydia?"

She shook her head nervously, afraid for what she was about to say to him. "That's a lot of pressure. Finding out what you are? I don't even know if I can. I know we have to figure it out…I have to help you do that so you can finally understand what's happened to you." Lydia looked up at him with teary eyes. "But I'm just one girl; there's nothing special about me. And I'm not like the others. I'll never be the hero – I just hear voices in my head and find bodies I was too late to save."

As she let go of her insecurities, her body began shaking from the torrent of tears. Jordan was quick to pull her close, wrapping her in his strong arms where she would be safe. She grabbed his shirt in small fists and sobbed into his chest. After a few minutes, she was able to calm down and stop crying. Once she had relaxed in his arms, she heard the beginnings of words forming deep in his throat.

"We can probably call it a night. I've been watching the house for hours. As far as I can tell no one's gone in and no one's come out."

"Sorry I wasted your time," Lydia mumbled into his chest.

She could feel him smile against the top of her hair. "Not a total waste," he said in a low voice.

As heat rose up in her cheeks, Lydia was grateful her face was still buried in his shirt.


	28. Chapter 28: Nightdriving

Summary: Jordan deals with an angry prisoner while Lydia and Kira help Malia practice her driving.

Based on episode 5x03

Music: Nightdriving by Brolin

* * *

Chapter 28: Nightdriving

Jordan and one of the newer deputies, Deputy Clark, headed to the back of the Station to fetch Donovan, a teenager from Beacon High caught breaking and entering with a loaded gun again. Clark stopped Jordan before they reached the holding cell. "I gotta warn you about this one since you weren't here when we brought him in. Guy's got a lot of pent up anger. Hold him tight," Clark said. "Who knows what he'll try..."

Deputy Clark secured Donovan in his handcuffs before Jordan opened the holding cell and helped her escort him out.

Donovan's lawyer talked to him from behind as they made their way out of the Sheriff's Station. "I'll be blunt. It's not what I was hoping for, but the DA's offer is still pretty reasonable."

"What's – what's reasonable?" Donovan asked.

"Talk in the van, guys," Clark interjected. "Let's go."

Donovan broke free of her grip and yelled, "No, just tell me what's reasonable!"

Jordan leaned in with his right hand resting on his gun. "Mr. Stewart, are we going to have trouble with your client?" He shot Donovan a cold stare.

"No, Deputy," Mr. Stewart replied. When Donovan looked back at him, he continued. "They want you for three to five. So why don't we get in the van and discuss a plea bargain that gets you out in two."

Donovan's face tensed up as he yelled, "Stilinski!"

Jordan and Clark fought to restrain him as he yelled the Sheriff's name. After several shouts, Sheriff Stilinski walked out of his office with Stiles and Scott behind him.

"I'm gonna kill you," Donovan spouted.

"Donovan," the Sheriff said. "If you think that shocks me, remember it was well documented in your anger-expression inventory. Deputies, escort the prisoner out."

"I'm not angry like I'm gonna throw a brick through your window," Donovan said in an eerily calm voice. "I'm angry like I'm gonna find you, I'm gonna get a knife, and I'm gonna stab you with it until you're dead. And when you look at me and you ask me why, remember right now. Because this is why."

The room fell deadly silent as everyone processed what Donovan said.

 _I can't believe you're standing here threatening the Sheriff like that. There's no way you're only getting two years. You probably won't even get out in five now._

Stiles was the first to break the awkward silence. "Wow, that was awesome," Stiles said. "That was awesome. That was great. Can we do one more? Give us another one, maybe like Christopher Walken this time? You know?" After another moment of silence he continued. "You know what? It's fine. You'll have plenty of time to work it in when you're in a tiny little cell, you know? Just stuck there…forever."

Donovan nodded with a grin before suddenly attempting to rush the Sheriff. Jordan and Clark caught him by the arms and held him back.

"Get him out of here!" The Sheriff yelled.

Jordan and Clark strong-armed him out the door to the prison transport van. Several officers were waiting outside who helped get him in the vehicle before driving him off to the courthouse.

Jordan let out a deep breath as he walked back into the Station with Clark. "You were definitely right about the anger issues. I'm just glad he'll be behind bars."

* * *

Lydia got out of the car and swapped seats with Malia. She watched Malia buckle her seatbelt and carefully adjust the mirrors so she could see better. Given Malia's terrible driving skills, Lydia and Kira decided to help her get in some practice outside of driver's ed class.

"Okay," Kira said from the back seat before taking a deep breath. "Hands on the wheel at ten and two."

"Actually, the recommended position is now nine and three," Lydia piped in. "At ten and two a deployed airbag could break your thumbs."

Malia looked over at her curiously. "Mine would heal."

"Save your strength." Lydia looked back at her with a strained expression. "And try not to destroy your beautiful new car. Nine and three," she said as she reached out to move Malia's hands down on the wheel.

Malia put the car in drive and started off slowly.

"Alright," Kira said. "Just ease into it. Good, good. Okay. There you go."

"Please shut up," Malia said without taking her eyes off the road.

"No problem," Kira muttered meekly. "Shutting up."

After repeatedly swerving off the road and almost hitting several trees, Malia's driving finally straightened out some. Once she was driving in a straight line she spoke up. "Okay, anybody wanna tell me where we're going?"

"The school," Lydia said, struggling to catch her breath. "We can finish with parking practice in the lot."

After a minute Kira called out from the backseat. "Lydia, we're actually heading downtown."

"What?" Lydia asked, looking out the window in confusion.

 _I know how to get to the high school, why would I tell you the wrong directions? Unless…_

"If we want to go to the school," Kira said. "We should do a U turn…shouldn't we?"

"No," Lydia mumbled. "Keep going."

"You sure?" Malia asked.

"Yes," Lydia said. "We're almost there."

Malia pulled onto a narrow road, which dipped below street level and went under an overpass. There was a prison transport vehicle crashed into the wall where the road dipped down. As they got out of the car and stepped closer, Lydia saw movement from one of the bodies laying on the pavement.

"Call 911," Lydia called out behind her.

While Kira called the police, Malia called Stiles so he and Scott could come too. When they arrived, the Sheriff gave Scott a walkie-talkie and sent him out to find Donovan, who had escaped from the van, and handed Jordan the other one.

After about ten minutes, Jordan got a call on his radio. "Scott, is that you?" Jordan said, gripping the radio and holding it out so the others could hear.

"Yeah," Scott said. "I found Donovan. He's completely freaked out…he keeps saying some name.

"What name?" the Sheriff asked.

"Tracy," Scott replied. "He keeps saying Tracy."

"Tracy who?"

Lydia sighed. "Stewart," she said, looking up at Jordan. "Tracy Stewart."

After providing the Sheriff with a description of Tracy and letting him in on her situation, Lydia moved away from the crowd and leaned against the car.

 _Tracy, what's going on with you? Why would you injure those officers? And_ _ **kill**_ _someone? There's gotta be a reason why you would do this…_

Lydia was shaken from her thoughts by a familiar voice. "Are you okay?"

She looked up to see Jordan standing over her with his thumbs tucked into his belt. Standing up straighter, Lydia wrapped her arms around herself and glanced away. "Yeah," she said. "I'll be alright."

Jordan folded his arms across his chest. "I didn't ask how you will be, I asked how you _are._ "

Lydia rolled her eyes and managed a weak smile. "You're right." She took a deep breath. "I just can't understand why she would do this. Why attack this van? She killed someone, Parrish. That's a big deal."

He shifted on the balls of his feet and avoided eye contact. Lydia looked at him curiously. "Parrish? What are you not telling me?"

Jordan finally looked up at her and sighed. "They just ID'd the body." He hesitated before continuing. "It's Tracy's father."


	29. Chapter 29: Paralyzed

Summary: Lydia and Jordan struggle to figure out what's happened to Tracy and how to save her.

Based on episode 5x03

Music: Paralyzed by NF

* * *

Chapter 29: Paralyzed

The next day before school, Lydia met with the rest of the pack, and Mason, to discuss what they should do about Tracy. "Tracy wasn't just having trouble sleeping," Lydia said. "It was a real disorder. It was night terrors."

"Yeah, well, now she's the night terror," Stiles commented, "especially since no one can find her."

"Okay," Scott interrupted. "I know we're all tired and miserable…" he looked over at Mason, who had an overjoyed expression on his face. "Except for you."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mason said once he noticed Scott staring at him. "This is all just _mind-blowing_." He looked over at Kira. "You're a kitsune! I don't even know what that is," he chuckled.

Kira shrugged. "I'm still learning."

Stiles sighed. "Liam, we said you could tell him, not invite him to the inner circle."

"I'm in the inner circle?" Mason asked.

"No!" Liam and Stiles remarked at the same time.

"Guys, look, back to Tracy," Scott jumped in. "She's just one lone wolf. We can find her."

"One lone serial killing wolf," Malia commented.

Stiles held up his hands. "Ah, she only killed one person. You know, the other two were – mauled."

"It's not that simple," Lydia retorted. "I don't think she did that of her own free will. I don't know if she's possessed or what…but it just doesn't make any sense."

Stiles sighed. "Well, what do we do when we catch her?"

"I say we put her down," Malia replied.

When no one responded to Malia's suggestion, Mason just nodded and said, "Intense."

Scott shook his head. "Guys, let's concentrate on catching her first. We'll figure out the rest later."

* * *

Jordan stood at the opening of the holding cell while the Sheriff was talking to Donovan, trying to get information from him about the attack on the prison transport van.

"I want my lawyer," Donovan muttered.

"Your lawyer's dead," the Sheriff replied.

"I want another lawyer."

Sheriff Stilinski leaned forward on his knees. "I know you saw something. Tracy killed her father and badly wounded two officers. One girl against three grown men? No matter how unbelievable you think it's gonna sound, I promise you can tell me."

"I like that tone of voice, Sheriff," Donovan said with a smile. "It's nice. Makes you seem like someone who wants to help."

Donovan suddenly cried out in pain and grabbed the side of his head. Pulling his hand away from his head, he looked up. "I want…a new…lawyer."

Sheriff Stilinski stood up and walked out of the cell. Jordan reached out and stopped him before he got too far away.

"I've got an answer to why we couldn't find Tracy last night," Jordan said. "She was in the hospital."

"Doing what?" the Sheriff asked.

"Killing her psychiatrist," Jordan replied.

As they closed the holding cell, Sheriff Stilinski said, "Let Scott know, but tell him I don't want them getting into it yet."

"Should we be putting him on the payroll?" Jordan asked with a half smile.

The Sheriff sighed. "I'm starting to wonder."

Once the Sheriff had returned to his office, Jordan pulled out his phone and texted Lydia.

 _Can you talk? It's important._

Lydia responded a couple minutes later.

 _Yeah, I can talk. I'm at school,_

 _but class doesn't start for 15 minutes._

Jordan dialed her number, and she answered on the first ring. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Tracy killed someone else last night. That's why we couldn't find her. She was at the hospital attacking her psychiatrist."

"Oh my gosh," Lydia whimpered. "Parrish, this is getting out of control."

"I know," he replied. "But the Sheriff said he didn't want you guys getting involved yet." Looking around, Jordan lowered his voice. "I also know, that's probably not going to happen."

"You're right about that," Lydia replied.

Jordan smiled to himself. "Just promise me something, will you?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Promise me, whatever you guys decide to do…that you'll be careful. Tracy is dangerous, and as much as I know you want to help, you have to remember that. Okay?" Jordan shifted nervously on his feet as he waited for a response.

"I promise," Lydia said. "I'll let you know if we figure out anything."

"And I'll do the same." Jordan hung up the phone and rubbed his palms up his face and into his hair.

 _She better keep her promise._

* * *

After school, Lydia walked up to Kira at her locker. "I have an idea. You wanna help?"

"That depends," Kira said hesitantly. "What did you have in mind?"

"I want to go to Tracy's house to look for clues. Liam and Mason are talking to Brett to see if Tracy's a part of Satomi's pack. And the others are with Tracy at the Animal Clinic. I need to be doing something useful."

Kira nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'll come with you."

Once they arrived at Tracy's house, Lydia stepped through the front door and walked through the house back to Tracy's bedroom. When they reached the closed door of her room, Kira grabbed Lydia by the arm.

"Hold on," Kira said. "Isn't this like a crime scene or something?"

"No," Lydia scoffed and opened the door. She froze once she entered the room and saw police caution tape wrapped around Tracy's bedposts. "Maybe," Lydia corrected herself. "Don't worry about it."

 _It's fine. We won't get in trouble…not if Parrish has anything to say about it. I'll just tell him later. I'm sure he'll understand. Besides, he'll just be happy I'm not doing anything dangerous._

"Okay," Kira said, taking a deep breath. "So, what are we looking for?"

"I'm not sure," Lydia mumbled. "I'm mostly just following a feeling."

Kira froze. "Your feelings usually lead to dead bodies," she whined.

Lydia turned on the bedside lamp and turned back around to face her. "Well, let me know if you find one."

They split up, looking around the room for any clue as to what was happening to Tracy and why she was acting so strange. Lydia noticed Kira pull a box out from under Tracy's bed. "Hey look at this," Kira said as she held up a dream catcher and a small card. "Remember Tracy-bear, it only works if you believe it. Hope this helps. Love, Dad." Kira closed the card and set it back in the box. "This is beyond depressing."

"He was just trying to help her," Lydia muttered sadly.

"Why would she go after him like that?" Kira asked.

"I guess," Lydia said with a sigh, "she wasn't in control of herself."

Kira furrowed her brows. "But it wasn't even a full moon."

"Maybe a werewolf with night terrors is worse than a – " Lydia froze. She took the dream catcher from Kira's hands and ran her hand over the beads and strings. "You know, there are cases of people who accidentally murdered their entire families while on a night terror. They had no idea what they were doing. It's called homicidal somnambulism."

"So if Tracy's killing people she doesn't really wanna kill," Kira started. "She might not actually be awake."

Lydia bit her lip nervously. "She's still in a night terror."

"Okay, wait a second," Kira said as Lydia moved to look at the wall behind Tracy's bed, which was covered in dozens of pencil drawings. "Her dad was just trying to help her, right?"

"So was her psychiatrist," Lydia replied.

"Maybe that's why she was at the school," Kira suggested.

"She was looking for someone else that was just trying to help?"

Kira paced back and forth at the foot of the bed. "Yeah – no, maybe it was you."

When Lydia spun around and shot her a confused glance, she shook her head. "Or not…since that would mean she wants to kill you."

"No," Lydia said. "No, you're right. I was trying to help, but…so was someone else. My mother. What if Tracy went to the school looking for her?"

"Where is she now?"

"On a date," Lydia replied. "She's meeting the Sheriff at the Station."

As Lydia's phone started ringing she heard Kira say, "I'm gonna pretend like that sentence made sense."

She rolled her eyes and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Lydia? It's Parrish."

"Parrish? What's going on? You find out something?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm at the hospital. I was finally able to talk to the driver of the prison transport van. He just regained consciousness about an hour ago. Turns out he didn't have a stroke or a heart attack. He was temporarily paralyzed."

"But," Lydia started, "that means Tracy is – "

"A Kanima? Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Well, I'm with Scott's mom and she agreed with me so…"

Lydia let out a laugh before turning serious again. "Parrish, we think we know who Tracy's next target is."

"Who?" Jordan asked quickly.

"My mom," Lydia replied. "Tracy thinks she's still in a night terror and she's killing everyone who has been trying to help her. My mom's at the Station right now so we're about to head over there."

"I'll meet you there as soon as I can," he said.

Lydia was about to hang up the phone when Jordan spoke up. "And Lydia, remember your promise."

"I know," she said, looking up at Kira. "That's why I'm not going alone."


	30. Chapter 30: Army of Angels

Summary: Lydia and the rest of the pack try to wake Tracy up from her night terror.

Based on episodes 5x03 and 5x04

Music: Army of Angels by The Script

* * *

Chapter 30: Army of Angels

Lydia and Kira burst into the Sheriff's Station to see Natalie and Sheriff Stilinski standing inside the main room. "Mom! She's coming," Lydia shouted. "Tracy's coming for you."

"What?" Natalie asked with furrowed brows. "What do you mean _for me_?"

Hearing sudden hissing growls, Lydia looked up and saw Tracy crawling across the ceiling. As if to prove their suspicions, she now had a large Kanima tail protruding from her back.

Sheriff Stilinski pulled out his gun and tried to shoot her, but she cut him with her claws, setting her paralytic venom in motion. "Kira, look out!" he shouted as he went down.

Kira whipped out her katana belt and poised herself to fend off Tracy's attacks. Tracy and Kira sparred for a minute, neither one seeming to land any blows.

Lydia noticed her mom hiding behind the corner across the room. "Mom, run!" she shouted. "Run!"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Tracy rushed at her and cut Lydia's side deep with her claws. She cried out in pain and grabbed her side, collapsing in the floor. Lydia heard her mom screaming her name as she fell.

 _Mom, no! Just run - get out of here while you still can!_

Kira leapt onto one of the desks and raised her katana with a shout in Japanese. Suddenly, she was surrounded by an orange aura, which appeared to be a representation of her fox spirit. Jumping down from the desk, her blade sliced through Tracy's tail mere inches from the base.

Tracy ran off after Natalie as Kira leaned over to recover from what just happened and the flame-like spirit around her faded away. Once Kira took a few breaths, she rushed over to Lydia's side, gently touching near the slashes on her waist for a better look. "Lydia, this doesn't look so good," Kira said quietly as she pressed her hands over the wound to slow the bleeding.

Lydia attempted to shake her head and groaned in pain. "I'll be okay. We just…we have to…stop Tracy. Have to get her to…snap out of it."

The sound of footsteps nearby made Lydia tense up until she saw a familiar face.

"Malia?" Lydia called out in barely more than a whisper.

Malia spun her head around and walked closer. "Lydia?"

"It's okay," Lydia mumbled. "It's fine. It's not as bad as it looks." As Kira applied more pressure, Lydia fought to contain her cries of pain. "Malia, listen. Tracy…she thinks …she thinks she's still sleep – she thinks she's dreaming. That it's a night terror," Lydia choked out.

Tensing her brow, Malia looked at her curiously. "I don't know what that – "

"She's not dreaming…she's not asleep," Lydia stuttered. "Get her to understand."

"Malia," Sheriff Stilinski called out from his paralyzed position on the floor several feet away. "Basement…they're in the basement."

"They?" Malia asked.

"Tracy…and my mother," Lydia whispered, causing Malia to dash out of the room.

 _Save them…save them both._

* * *

When Jordan finally arrived at the Sheriff's Station, he rushed inside with his gun raised, only to see blood and paperwork spattered all over the floor. As he walked by the open door of the Sheriff's office, he saw Lydia lying on her side against the tile floor surrounded by Kira, her mother, and an unknown teenage boy. Jordan holstered his gun and dropped down to his knees in the floor.

"We've already called for an ambulance," Natalie informed him. "They should be here any minute."

Jordan continued to silently stare at Lydia as she managed a small smile. Kira looked at him carefully and said, "She should be okay. Thanks to Theo here, we've been able to minimize the bleeding a lot."

 _Theo? Theo Raeken - the werewolf that Stiles doesn't trust? If you guys don't trust him, why is he here?_

He glanced over at Theo, who offered a half smile, and looked away. Jordan shifted his gaze to Lydia's waist and commented, "That was a smart move with the belt. Good thinking."

"Thanks," Theo mumbled. "I'm just glad I was able to help."

 _Hmm. Why don't we trust this guy? He seems okay to me…_

Just then, Jordan heard sirens coming closer as an ambulance pulled into the parking lot. He watched as the paramedics put Lydia on a stretcher and loaded her into the ambulance with her mother by her side. He started to walk out of the Station when the Sheriff stopped him. "Parrish!"

"Yes, sir," Jordan replied as he turned to face him.

"Follow them to the hospital would you? We still don't know why Tracy was acting the way she was. And now we're not sure who killed her." The Sheriff sighed. "Also, Donovan escaped again. I'm going to have Scott see if he can track him down yet again, but in the meantime, we have no idea how he escaped. It's possible that Tracy broke him out, in which case, he could attempt to finish the job she couldn't. I want to be sure there's a deputy present with Lydia and her mother, at least until things calm down a little bit. They're in a compromised position right now and I don't want to take any chances."

Jordan nodded. "Yes, sir."

After the Sheriff walked away, Jordan rushed over to his desk, pulling out a laptop, spare cables, and other assorted parts. _This way I can hook into the hospital's security cameras and have eyes on the whole building while staying close to Lydia._

He made sure he had plenty of ammo before hopping in his squad car and driving to the hospital. When he arrived and went inside, he found Lydia being wheeled to an operating room with her mother by her side. He stepped closer, tagging behind the procession with a bag of tech supplies over one shoulder and his right hand resting by his gun.

Lydia was squinting her eyes closed hard and groaning in pain. Natalie looked down at her and painted a smile on her face. "You're going to be okay, sweetheart."

"Mom, you can't say anything about what you saw," Lydia rattled off breathlessly. "You can't sa – "

"All I saw was some lunatic girl trying to kill everyone," Natalie choked out. "You're going to be fine," she said as she patted Lydia on the head, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

Lydia just looked up at Natalie and shook her head. "You can't tell anyone. You just can't."

"You're gonna be fine," Natalie replied, clearly struggling not to cry.

 _Lydia, you're on your way back for emergency surgery. Don't worry about this right now. It will all be fine. Remember both the Sheriff and I know about the supernatural. We can talk to her if need be. She won't go telling everyone about what she saw; it'll all be okay._

He was shaken from his thoughts by Lydia muttering his name. "Parrish? Is that you?"

Natalie looked up at him and smiled weakly, motioning for him to come closer before they took her past where visitors were allowed to be. He gave her a soft smile. "Hey, Lydia."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry…I broke my promise. She was…more dangerous than we…than we expect – "

Jordan shook his head. "You didn't break your promise, not in my book." He reached out for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I know you tried to be careful, and you didn't go alone. All that matters now is that you're alive and you're going to be okay."

Lydia smiled up at him as they wheeled her through the large double doors. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Melissa walk up to the pack in a nearby waiting area. Jordan walked over to see if he could learn any more information.

"How bad is it?" Stiles asked.

"Not as bad as it could have been," Melissa said as she shook her head. "Theo, nice going on that tourniquet. You probably saved her life."

Jordan noticed the troubled look on Stiles' face as she said this. _He looks so torn. I know he cares a lot about Lydia and she's his friend, but he still looks bitter that Theo saved her. Why does he want to hate this guy so much?_

Melissa sighed. "Alright, she's about to go into surgery so it's gonna be awhile. Any other supernatural details I need to know about or do we just stitch her up and hope for the best?"

 _Stitch her up and hope for the best?! That doesn't sound very promising! Don't you guys know what you're doing? I mean, I know she's a Banshee, but still. She doesn't have supernatural healing abilities._

"It was the tail," Kira pointed out.

"Tracy cut her with the tail, if that makes a difference," Scott said.

 _If that makes a difference? You mean you don't even know if it makes a difference?_

"Okay." Melissa nodded and walked away.

"But it wasn't just Tracy," Malia insisted. "The – there were the others? The guys in the masks," she said as she looked at Stiles with a pleading expression.

 _Guys in masks?! What the hell is going on here? Sounds like I need to gather eyewitness testimony from Malia too._

Jordan hooked up his laptop to the security camera feeds for the whole hospital and situated himself in the waiting room right outside where Lydia was taken back. After watching the camera footage for about an hour and seeing nothing, Jordan received a phone call from the Sheriff telling him to call it a night.

Once he hung up the phone, Jordan saw Natalie Martin with two cups of coffee in hand. She smiled and walked over to him, sitting down in the empty chair beside him and handing him one of the drinks.

"Strong and black," she said with a smile. "I believe that's how you've said you take your coffee."

Jordan chuckled and grinned at her. "I'm impressed you remembered. Thank you."

Natalie took a sip of coffee before looking over at him again, carefully searching his tense face. "It's getting pretty late. Don't you need to go home and get some rest? Lydia won't even be out of surgery for a couple hours, and even then, she probably won't be fully awake until sometime tomorrow morning."

He shook his head slowly, taking a swig of his drink before answering. "I'm about to pack up and head home, but I doubt I'll get any rest tonight."

When Jordan noticed the slightly puzzled look Natalie was giving him, he elaborated. "I just – I can't help but feel that it's my fault. That if I'd told her to wait for me, or if I'd just left sooner…maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"I don't blame you at all," Natalie said with a soft expression. "I don't think there's anything you could have done. And if I don't blame you, I certainly doubt Lydia will."

Jordan let out a laugh. "That's the problem. I know Lydia wouldn't blame me; she's too sweet and understanding. I'm afraid she wouldn't blame me even if I deserved it." He sighed and said, "But, Lydia was seriously hurt tonight, and for letting that happen, I know I can never forgive myself."

Natalie took a deep breath and turned to face him. "You know, if I were you, I would wait and see how Lydia feels about the whole situation before being so hard on yourself."

He just nodded and sipped his coffee as Natalie stood up. "Well, I'll let you get going so you can get some rest." She turned to leave, but before she walked away she said, "Do you want me to call when she's out of surgery?"

Jordan smiled as he packed up his things. "I would really appreciate that."

After writing down Jordan's phone number, Natalie wished him a goodnight and left to pace the hospital's hallways some more.

Jordan climbed into his squad car and turned the key in the ignition. _I hope Lydia's okay. This is going to be a long night._


	31. Chapter 31: King

Summary: Jordan thinks back to an old conversation with Lydia while she's in surgery.

Based on episode 5x04

Music: King (Gryffin Remix) by Years & Years

* * *

Chapter 31: King

Jordan walked into his apartment and dropped his bag on the floor by the couch. After changing out of his uniform, he flopped down on the couch and ran his hands through his hair as he laid on his back. He looked down at his phone. _10:46. I still haven't heard from Lydia's mom, but I'm not really surprised. I'm sure she's still in surgery._

After lying on the couch for fifteen minutes, unable to keep his mind off Lydia, Jordan groaned in frustration and snatched up a pack of cards off the coffee table. He pulled out a couple cards to practice a card trick he knew and froze when he looked at them close up.

He pulled out two queen of diamonds cards and noticed that the queen on the cards looked like Lydia. Jordan suddenly thought back to a conversation he had with Lydia a couple weeks before…

* * *

"You gonna do a magic trick?" Jordan asked the strawberry blonde as she flicked the lighter on with her thumb.

"No." Lydia let the flame go out before flashing a coy smile. "…But you are."

Jordan smirked. "I only know one trick and it's with a playing card." He touched the thumb of his fisted hand to his mouth, trying to hide how nervous he actually was.

"Well, this one involves a lighter in your hand," she said, twirling the device in her fingers.

"This is sounding less like a magic trick and more like assault." He tried to sound witty, but the words came out more serious than he wanted them to.

"It's a little dangerous – yes," she smiled deviously. "But it's not as bad as being lit on fire in a deputy sheriff's car."

Jordan glanced away and rolled his eyes playfully. Lydia smiled before continuing. "Which, by the way, you walked away from unscathed."

"Not entirely." He decided sarcasm was his best response. "Had to pay for the uniform," he said with a sly smile.

Lydia looked him up and down before staring into his eyes, her expression now more serious. Clearly she wasn't going to be dissuaded from her experiment. "Give me your hand."

"I think I've seen something like this in a movie," he said. Jordan hesitantly held out his hand.

"Lawrence of Arabia," she replied quickly, placing the lighter beneath his outstretched palm.

"Remind me what the trick was?" he nervously glanced down at his hand.

"Not minding," Lydia scolded without taking her eyes off his.

He looked back at his hand and sighed as she flipped on the lighter, holding the fire to his skin. She watched him carefully as the flame danced against his open palm.

After a few seconds Jordan shouted and pulled his hand away. "Ah! Son of a – " he started.

Lydia laughed, causing him to look at her curiously and smile himself.

"You can last longer than that," she commented with a seductive smile.

With the look she was giving him, Jordan had to glance away to gather his wits about himself again. He scoffed at her flirtatious mannerisms taunting him from across the desk.

Lydia sat forward in her seat. "This time," she said, reaching out and grabbing Jordan's hand, "I want you to do something different."

Her touch made his breath hitch in his throat, and he licked his lips anxiously.

"Don't think about the flame," she said, causing Jordan to meet her eyes again. "Don't think about the heat." She opened up his hand once again, stretching it out in front of him. "Don't think about it hurting," she said as she let go of his fingertips where she'd been holding onto his hand. "Don't even look at it."

Jordan nodded. "Okay."

Lydia lit the flame beneath his hand again, this time with him looking at her instead. The longer the flame licked against his skin, the more disoriented he became.

Lydia shouted in pain, which seemed to bring Jordan back from his dream-state.

"What? What happened?" he asked after retracting his hand.

"Oh – it was too hot. My thumb was too close to the flame," she replied before pressing her lips together in pain.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His eyes nervously scanned hers.

"Yeah," she gripped the lighter tight with a subtle shaking motion. "I'm fine." She massaged her burnt thumb and looked back at him. "What about you?"

Jordan looked down at his hand and saw his palm was covered in ash. When he rubbed his thumb across it, the ash wiped off, cleanly revealing the unblemished skin beneath.

Lydia stared at his palm in awe. "Did it hurt?"

He shook his head slow, a perplexed expression on his face.

Lydia returned a similar look. "When you were looking at me," she started, "your eyes kind of drifted." She looked away nervously. "What were you thinking about?" she finally asked.

"A dream," he said, looking her in the eyes once more.

"What dream?"

Jordan sat back in his seat, trying to decide where to start. "I've had it here and there for about six months. I'm walking in the woods carrying a body. It was completely burned. I can't see who it is or…who it was."

"Where were you taking it?" Lydia asked nervously.

"A clearing," he replied. "There was a huge tree in the middle of it. You'd think it was a thousand years old, but it's been cut down. It's just a stump."

"It's real," she said. "It's a real tree, in a real part of Beacon Hills." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Used to be the center of a grove of trees called a Nemeton."

"What's a Nemeton?" he asked. Honest confusion was evident on his face.

"A sacred meeting place for Celtic Druids," she answered. "They were scientists and healers thousands of years ago."

Jordan furrowed his brow and shook his head. "I've never seen this place."

"But that's why you're here," she explained. "It drew you here. That's what it does. It's a beacon for supernatural creatures. It might even make them more powerful."

His expression became tense and worried. He looked away quickly, deep in thought.

"What else happens?" she asked.

He stood up with his back to her, anxiously rubbing the ashes on his palm and trying to decide what to say next. He turned to face her again. "I put the body down. I lay it on the rings of the trees and – " he trailed off.

"What?" she asked, curious to know what happened next.

He looked at her, knowing he couldn't tell her the truth. Not now, not after everything she just said. "Nothing," he replied. "That's it. That's the end of the dream."

Lydia stared at him, unsure of how to respond.

* * *

 ** _"I only know one trick and it's with a playing card."_**

Jordan jerked upright on the couch at the sound of his phone ringing.

"Parrish?" Natalie asked over the phone. "Lydia's out of surgery now. It looks like she's going to be fine."

"Thank God," Jordan replied. "I appreciate you letting me know."

"Of course," she said. "Hopefully you can get some rest now."

Jordan laid back down on the couch and looked at the card in his hand. "We'll see."

He stared at the card, rubbing his thumb across the face when he noticed the similarity. She had the red hair, green eyes, porcelain skin, and those same full, red lips. He smiled slowly, remembering the flirtatious strawberry blonde who bore its resemblance.


	32. Chapter 32: Glow

Summary: Jordan visits Lydia in the hospital.

Based on episode 5x04

Music: Glow by RHODES

* * *

Chapter 32: Glow

The next morning, Jordan woke up lying on the couch with the playing cards on his chest. He sighed and sat up, glancing at his phone. _6:37. I better hurry and get dressed so I can get to work._

When he walked into the Station, Sheriff Stilinski called his name from his office. Jordan stepped into the room and closed the door at his bidding. "Yes, sir?"

"I'm going to need you to go to the hospital and gather eyewitness testimony. I have too much to do here, otherwise I would go myself," Sheriff Stilinski said. "And I'm sure you can understand why you're the only other one who can do it."

Jordan nodded. "Yes, sir, I do."

The Sheriff sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the arms of his chair. "You need to get both versions of what happened."

"Both?" Jordan asked.

"We need her official eyewitness testimony," the Sheriff said before leaning forward and looking Jordan in the eyes. "But we also need to know how everything really happened."

"Right," Jordan replied. "I'll get on that."

After arriving at the hospital, Jordan went to the ICU and walked up to the front reception desk.

"Hi, I'm here to see Lydia Martin," Jordan said, revealing his deputy badge so the receptionist could see.

Her eyes grew wide and she nodded, paging for another nurse to come up to the front. "She's in room 235; the nurse will take you back."

Seconds later, a nurse walked up to him and shook his hand. She was short and slender with her light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. "My name is Amy, if you'll please follow me?"

Jordan nodded and followed the nurse through the double doors and down the hallway. They stopped at room 235 and the nurse motioned for Jordan to enter the room. "She's asleep, but you're welcome to wait around until she wakes up."

"Thank you," Jordan said with a smile.

As he was about to enter the room, Natalie walked over. "Parrish?" she said in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Sheriff Stilinski sent me over to gather eyewitness testimony," Jordan replied. "I was just going to wait here until she woke up." He looked at her carefully. "Don't you need to be at the high school?"

Natalie sighed. "Yeah, I can't afford to take a day off, but I didn't want to leave her alone…"

"Well, I'm here," Jordan said. "I can stay with her."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Natalie asked with raised eyebrows.

Jordan nodded with a smile. "I'm positive. Hopefully she won't be in the ICU too long. Once she's in a regular room, her friends can stay with her."

Natalie thanked him before rushing off to work. Jordan entered the room and sat down in a chair at the foot of Lydia's hospital bed.

 _She looks like she's sleeping well – hopefully that means she's not in too much pain._ Jordan sighed and rubbed his palms up his face. _I'm just glad she's okay._

After about twenty minutes, Jordan started to drift off. He shook his head and glanced around the room. Lydia was still asleep. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed a TV mounted to the wall. He grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels, but nothing was coming in, only static. He finally got a channel to come in when he heard Lydia stirring behind him. Jordan whipped his head around to see her propped up on her arms and staring at him through half-open eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"Officially I'm here to gather eyewitness testimony," Jordan said in a soft voice. "Unofficially I'm trying to find something to watch, but the only thing that comes in is this kung-fu movie." He looked at Lydia with a smile. "You like kung-fu movies?"

She looked up at the TV before turning back to Jordan. "Do you know how to do that?"

"I know a little ju-jitsu," Jordan nodded. "In the Army they taught us CQC: close quarters combat."

Lydia glanced at the TV again before asking, "Can you teach me?"

Jordan looked at her curiously. "You wanna learn ju-jitsu? Hand-to-hand?"

"I wanna learn how to fight," she said. "Can you teach me?"

"Yeah," Jordan nodded and smiled. "I can teach you."

Lydia smiled and settled back into her pillows. After a second, her mouth twisted into a frown.

"What's wrong?" Jordan asked. He looked her over carefully. "Did you want to sit up more?"

Lydia nodded. "Yeah, but I can't – "

"Here," Jordan said, moving to her side and propping up the pillows behind her. "Is that better?"

"Much better." She leaned back against the pillows and smiled. "Did my mom go in to work?"

"Yeah, she didn't want to leave you alone so I said I could stay here with you."

She nodded and stared off into the distance. "Did she say anything?" Lydia turned her attention back to Jordan. "About yesterday?"

"No," Jordan said, shaking his head. "Sheriff Stilinski is going to talk to her." He searched her face before adding, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it will be fine."

"But she saw. She has to know now," Lydia said. "I just don't understand how she's being so calm about the whole thing."

"I don't know," he muttered. "But like I said, don't worry. The Sheriff is going to find out what she knows. He can have the talk with her if he needs to."

Lydia bit her lip and fiddled with her hands nervously. "How's Tracy?"

Jordan looked at her softly. _Did no one tell you? Oh God…_

"Lydia," Jordan started hesitantly, "Tracy's dead."

Her expression fell instantly and she searched Jordan's face with her bright green eyes. "What?"

He sighed. "Malia says that these men in masks came down into the basement after she was able to snap Tracy out of it, and they killed her."

Jordan could see tears forming in Lydia's eyes. "The – there's no way," she stuttered. "Tracy can't be…she can't be dead."

"I'm sorry, Lydia," Jordan said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a quick squeeze. "But that's something we do need to talk about." He sat back down in the chair and scooted it closer to the bed. "We need to work out your official statement."

Lydia looked up at him understandingly. "You mean the lie we're going to tell to protect everyone else from the truth?"

"Yes," he said with a nod. "I need to know the lie and the truth. The lie's just for show, but the truth will help us figure out what's actually going on."

Lydia nodded, but suddenly she froze and stared off into space with a scared expression on her face.

Jordan looked at her nervously. "Lydia? What's wrong?"

"How did Malia describe the men who killed Tracy again?"

"Um, I dunno, wearing masks?" Jordan said. "She was still in shock when she was saying this and I haven't gotten a chance to ask her for more details yet. Why?"

Lydia hesitated before looking him in the eyes. "Because I think I saw them during my surgery."


	33. Chapter 33: Heartburn

Summary: Lydia recovers from being attacked by Tracy.

Inspired by episodes 5x04 and 5x05.

Music: Heartburn by Wafia

* * *

Chapter 33: Heartburn

"What do you mean you think you saw them?" Jordan asked, anxiety coming through on his voice.

Lydia glanced at Jordan briefly before turning her attention to the empty wall behind him. "I don't know...I'm sure it's nothing. I'm probably imagining things."

Jordan searched her face, waiting for her to offer more information, but she never did. Before he could say anything else, Amy came in with a smile on her face.

"Good news, Lydia," she said, "Your condition is stable enough the doctor said you can be moved to a regular room."

Jordan watched as the nurses disconnected tubes and wires, gathering all of the supplies Lydia would still need in her new room. Amy turned to Jordan and handed him a small bag containing some of Lydia's belongings. "You're welcome to walk with us as we relocate your wife to her new room. That might make it easier for you to remember where it is."

He could feel himself growing red in the face. "She's not my wife. I'm uh- I'm just a deputy gathering eyewitness testimony."

When he said this, Jordan thought he could see Lydia tense up out of the corner of his eye. _Did I say something wrong? Of course I corrected her. Did you expect me to just play along?_

Lydia seemed to ignore him as they went down the hallway and took the elevator. She didn't speak at all until the nurses had situated her in her new room and left. Jordan moved to sit in a chair beside the bed when Lydia spoke up.

"So that's it, huh?" she said in a quiet voice. "That's all this is? You're just a deputy doing your job and I'm the civilian who can't seem to stay out of trouble?"

He sighed and rubbed his palms up his face. "Lydia, that's not what I meant."

"Are you sure about that?" Lydia eyed him carefully. "Because you could have convinced me."

"Yes, I'm sure," Jordan said, shaking his head. "It just came out wrong. The nurse took me off guard when she assumed you were my wife. I didn't see that coming and I didn't know how else to respond."

Jordan reached out to put a hand on hers. "Lydia, if this was just a job to me, I wouldn't have spent two hours of my morning sitting by your bedside waiting for you to wake up...And I wouldn't have been up half the night worried if you were going to be okay or not."

Lydia smiled softly and shifted her position in the bed. "Okay…I believe you."

He returned her smile and gave her hand a squeeze before letting go and standing up. "I'll let everyone know you're in a regular room now," Jordan said as he stepped out into the hallway to talk on the phone. He talked to Natalie briefly before calling Lydia's friends.

 _I should call Stiles first...I'm sure he's really worried about her._

Stiles answered on the first ring. "What's going on? Is Lydia okay?"

"Lydia's fine," Jordan said quickly. "I was actually calling to let you know she's been moved to a regular room. You guys will be able to come see her now."

"Oh thank God," Stiles muttered, his voice still shaking with anxiety. "I'm at the school library with Malia right now, but I'm gonna head over right now. Thanks for telling me."

"No problem," Jordan said before hanging up the phone.

 _I'm sure Stiles will be too focused on getting to Lydia to think to tell Scott right now._ He pulled up Scott's number and pressed dial.

"Parrish? What's going on?" Scott asked.

"I wanted to let you know that Lydia is in a regular room now so you guys can come visit her whenever you want."

"That's great news!" Scott said. "Has anyone told Stiles?"

"Yeah, I called him first."

"Good," Scott replied.

Jordan glanced over his shoulder through the window of the door. Lydia was settled back in bed with her eyes closed. Shifting on his feet, Jordan asked the question weighing on his mind. "He cares about her a lot doesn't he?"

Scott sighed. "He loves her. He always has."

Jordan's voice caught in his throat, unsure of how to respond. Noticing Jordan's silent response, Scott continued. "But it's different now...you know? Before it was just a crush, but now? It goes deeper than that. They make a good team. No super strength, no claws or fangs, but somehow they always end up making it out alive."

Choking back his emotions as he watched Lydia rest in her hospital bed, Jordan curtly replied, "But not always unscathed."

Jordan hung up the phone and stepped back into the room. _Pretty good team, huh? I seem to remember_ _ **I**_ _was the reason Lydia made it out of Eichen House alive that one time, not Stiles..._

He shook the thought from his head as he approached her bedside. Hearing his footsteps, Lydia opened her eyes and smiled. "Hey," she whispered.

Jordan offered a small smile and returned her greeting. "Stiles is on his way; he should be here really soon."

Lydia nodded before Jordan continued, "I should be going."

He moved to leave but Lydia grabbed his wrist, causing him to turn and look at her. "Please, Parrish," she pleaded. "Don't leave."

Her soft, desperate cries stirred something in Jordan, and he could feel the heat rising in his face and ears. "I can't afford to stay any longer, Lydia. This has already expanded way beyond my job description."

"But I still need you here."

Jordan sighed. "Lydia, please don't ask me to choose between you and my job...the answer won't be pretty."

She looked away and took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Jordan started to leave, but he stopped at the door and moved back to her bedside, sitting down beside her. "I'll stay," Jordan said, "but only until Stiles gets here."

Lydia smiled and nodded softly. "Okay."

"In the meantime, you still need to give me your eyewitness testimony."

Her face fell at this and she looked down at her hands, twiddling her thumbs before her. "Is that why you're really still here?"

Jordan looked her in the eyes. "Partially, yes," he said. "You want me to lie?"

"No." Lydia shook her head. "It's important. I know that. Which story do you want first?" She asked as she settled back into her bed.

"Your official statement," he replied, pulling some paperwork out of his inner jacket pocket.

Lydia told him a story about Tracy going off the deep end and running around cutting people with a knife that had some sort of chemicals on it that caused people to be temporarily paralyzed.

After she finished her story and Jordan finished writing it down, he handed her the piece of paper. "Is this your final answer?"

She read over the document quickly before nodding and signing it at the bottom. Lydia handed the paper back to Jordan who tucked it away in his jacket pocket.

"Now," Jordan said, leaning forward on his knees to be closer to Lydia. "Tell me what really happened."

"Kira and I went to Tracy's house looking for clues." Lydia hesitated before adding, "We may have been illegally poking around a crime scene?"

Jordan sighed and cupped his face in his hand before looking up at her again. "Next time you wanna look around a crime scene, please call me first." Once Lydia nodded, he asked her to continue.

"We ended up figuring out that Tracy's next target was my mother, like I told you on the phone. So we headed to the Station where she was meeting up with the Sheriff. As soon as we walked into the front office, we saw Tracy on the ceiling."

"On the ceiling?" Jordan asked. "You mean like suspended from it?"

"Yeah," Lydia said. "Hanging from it like a gecko or something."

"And so after she got down from the ceiling?"

Lydia shifted slightly in the bed. "That's when she cut me with her tail. I was distracted trying to get my mother to escape and Kira wasn't fast enough to stop her."

Jordan's eyes moved to her right side before rejoining her eyes. "And now? You think you'll be okay?"

She smiled softly. "I'm pretty hard to get rid of."

After a moment her expression turned more serious and she bit her lip nervously. "Parrish? I -"

Stiles burst into the room before she could get the words out of her mouth. "Oh, thank God!" he muttered as he ran his fingers back through his hair in an anxious tick.

Jordan jumped up from his seat and moved so that Stiles could take his place beside her. Stiles slid into the chair without acknowledging Jordan and grabbed Lydia's hand. "I'm so glad you're okay. I couldn't have lived with myself if something more serious had happened and I wasn't there."

 _What could you have done? I think we've established that your baseball bats are pretty much useless._

Jordan walked over to the door and grabbed the handle when he heard Lydia say his name.

"Parrish?"

He glanced at Stiles before looking back to Lydia. "I kept my promise, didn't I? And besides, I think we both know that despite everything else, despite what you know to be true...I'm still just a deputy."

Jordan stepped out into the hallway and closed the door before Lydia could respond.


	34. Chapter 34: Cinnamon

Summary: Lydia recovers from the attack at the Station.

Takes place between episodes 5x04 and 5x05.

Music: Cinnamon by Ritual

* * *

Chapter 34: Cinnamon

Lydia helplessly watched Jordan leave, choking back her emotions before Stiles could notice. _Pull yourself together, Lydia! Of course he had to leave. He has a job to do – a job much bigger than your needs right now. You're lucky he stayed with you at all…he didn't have to. Besides, you heard what he said. He's still a deputy; nothing can happen between you…can it?_

The sound of Stiles' voice pulled her out of her thoughts. He was rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb and looking deeply into her eyes. "I can't remember the last time I was that afraid." When Lydia looked at him with furrowed brows, he continued. "I thought you were going to die," Stiles whispered, his voice catching in the back of his throat.

"Well," Lydia replied, forcing a smile. "I'm okay now."

Stiles looked down at their intertwined hands thoughtfully before glancing up again. "I don't know what I would do if you weren't…"

"Stiles – " she started, shifting in the bed.

"I love you, Lydia."

Wide-eyed, she searched his face, unsure of how else to respond, when Scott and Kira entering the room drew her attention away from Stiles. Kira rushed over and gave Lydia a gentle hug, being sure to avoid putting pressure on Lydia's right side or tangling up any of her many tubes and wires. Stiles moved from his seat beside Lydia to stand beside Scott.

"How are you feeling?" Scott asked.

"I'm certainly in a lot of discomfort, but that's to be expected. I don't think I'm really in any pain. I'm taking a fair amount of pain medication to be sure that's the case though. How's my mother? I'm sure it's hard for her to be at the school instead of being here."

"She's alright," Kira replied. "I checked on her around lunchtime and she seemed okay for the most part. Worried about you, but she said that Parrish has been with you?"

Lydia glanced at Stiles' pained expression briefly before answering. "Yeah, he's been here all morning; he actually just left. He promised my mother he would keep an eye on me until I was in a regular room and you guys could come stay with me."

"How nice of him," Stiles muttered.

 _Yes, it_ _ **was**_ _actually. What's with you? Would you rather I was alone? If you love me like you say, wouldn't you still want me to have someone by my side in your absence? Even if it couldn't be you?_

With a resentful attitude, Lydia turned her attention to Stiles. "Where's Malia, Stiles? I thought she would be with you."

"Malia's still at the school library doing research. She asked me to bring her back by the hospital later to see you."

 _Great, so I have that to look forward to. You just declared your love for me, but you're going to bring your girlfriend with you to visit me? Does she know how you feel? Surely she has some idea from the pheromones alone…_

Scott and Kira stayed to visit for about twenty minutes before Melissa came by and pulled them out into the hall. After a minute they stepped back in so Scott could whisper to Stiles before saying their goodbyes and following his mom to the elevators.

 _What's going on now?! I know I'm injured, but you still need to tell me what's going on. I can handle it._

"What was that all about?" Lydia asked, scanning Stiles' face carefully.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just something Scott needs to check on. Don't worry about it."

 _I bet Parrish would tell me what's going on._

Uncomfortable silence filled the hospital room. Stiles fidgeted with his hands awkwardly before speaking. "Lydia, I - "

"Stiles," she interrupted. "I think you should go. I'm tired and would like to be able to rest."

He nodded and furrowed his brows. "Okay. I'll let your mom know how you're doing when I get back to the school."

Lydia turned her face away to hide her tears as Stiles walked out the door. _Why'd you have to make everything so complicated?_

* * *

Jordan returned to the Station and went straight to the Sheriff's office. He handed Sheriff Stilinski Lydia's official statement. After reading it carefully, he glanced over the top of the paper at Jordan. "So this is the story we're going with?"

Once Jordan nodded, the Sheriff sat back in his seat, dropping the paper on his desk in front of him. He held his thumb and forefinger up to his mouth in thought for a moment before responding. "I think that's wise. Lydia did a good job phrasing it; I can tell she was careful with her words." He sighed and said, "Sadly, I think all those kids have way too much experience with that."

"I'm sure you're right, sir."

Jordan turned to leave but stopped when the Sheriff spoke again. "You know, there is another reason why I sent you to talk to Lydia. Why I sent you to guard her during her surgery. Why I'm asking you to keep an eye on her now."

"Why's that?"

Jordan shifted nervously on his feet, unable to keep eye contact, as the Sheriff stood from behind his desk and moved in front of Jordan.

"Because Lydia is a very stubborn and reserved young woman. She doesn't tend to reveal her true nature to other people, but for some reason she has decided to let you in."

Jordan looked at the Sheriff with furrowed brows. "So what are you say-"

"I'm saying," the Sheriff replied as he clapped Jordan on the shoulder. "Lydia needs someone watching out for her who cares about her _and_ has the ability to protect her. While a number of you fit that bill, only one of you can do the job. It has to be someone she has bonded to, or she would never let herself be protected."

Turning his attention to his feet, Jordan replied. "What about your son?"

Sheriff Stillinski let his hand fall away from Jordan's shoulder and sat back down at his desk. "Only Lydia can answer that question."

Jordan nodded and stepped out of the Sheriff's office to sit down at his own desk and read over the unofficial report until the words blurred on the page.

* * *

Lydia was discharged from the hospital Sunday morning and returned home by that afternoon. Natalie set up the sleeper sofa in the den so that Lydia could relax and watch movies. It also gave her a place to sleep on the main level of the house until she regained her strength.

She was watching a documentary on chimeras and drinking a cup of tea when she heard the doorbell ring. "Mom! Tell my friends I'm not well enough for company."

She could faintly hear the sound of the front door opening, followed by her mother's shocked response. "It's not your friends, honey."

Lydia furrowed her brows and paused the TV. Her expression relaxed when she recognized the visitor. Jordan was standing beside her mother with a small bouquet of flowers. After placing them in a vase from Natalie, Jordan set the flowers down on the coffee table.

Looking Jordan up and down, Lydia fiddled with the blanket across her lap. "You're not in uniform."

Jordan looked down at his attire, a plain blue V-neck and jeans, before meeting Lydia's eyes. "This is my own time."

Natalie glanced between the two of them and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Lydia, I'm going to go get started on dinner, okay?"

"Okay, Mom," Lydia said, smiling up at her as she left the room.

Once they were alone, Jordan noted the image still frozen on the TV screen as he sat down beside Lydia. "What in the world are you watching?"

"It's a documentary on chimeras," Lydia replied.

He looked at her with a tender expression. "Lydia, you do realize you're allowed to take a couple days for yourself, right? To just focus on healing and getting back on your feet?"

"No," she looked at him with sad eyes. "I can't. Tracy is dead. Lukas is dead. How many more innocent teenagers are going to die before we figure out a way to stop this?" She shook her head and reached for the remote. "I can't afford to take a day off."

Jordan placed a hand over hers, which now rested on the TV remote. "Then at least take fifteen minutes," he said in a soft voice. "While I'm here with you."

She nodded slowly, removing her hand from the remote and leaning back on the sofa.

"So," Jordan said as he rubbed his palms along his thighs. "Did you have a good visit with your friends the other day?"

Lydia whipped around to face him with wide-eyes, searching his face carefully. _Does he know something? Did Stiles tell him? Did Stiles tell his dad and Parrish overheard? But if he knows, why would he be here now?..._

Jordan tensed up and reached out to touch her hand, but she pulled it away. "What's wrong?" he asked. "I've seen that expression before – something happened."

She took a shaky breath before answering without looking up from her hands in her lap. "Stiles told me he loved me."

After a moment of awkward silence, she finally looked up. Jordan was leaned over staring at the floor with his hands folded in front of him. "And what did you say?"

"I told him I needed to rest," Lydia said. When Jordan looked up at her, she continued. "I didn't answer him if that's what you mean."

Jordan stood up and moved to the doorway of the den, stopping at the entrance to turn and speak to her. "Rest up, Lydia. Your friends need you…he needs you."

She shook her head as he started to walk away. "But I owe you an explan – "

"No," Jordan said quietly. "You don't owe me anything."

Lydia watched him walk away and listened for the sound of the front door closing behind him, unsure of what else to do.


	35. Chapter 35: Living

Summary: Lydia and the pack return to Eichen House while Jordan starts having dreams about his supernatural side.

Based on episode 5x05

Music: Living by VÉRITÉ

* * *

Chapter 35: Living

Monday morning Lydia hurried out the front door before her mom could say anything about driving herself to school. She froze and almost dropped her bookbag at the sight of Stiles and Malia waiting for her. They were standing leaned up against his Jeep, which was blocking her car in the driveway.

"We didn't think it was a good idea for you to drive yourself alone to school so soon after your injury," Stiles said. "So Malia offered to ride with you."

 _We? Offered? Why don't I believe any of that? I'm guessing this was really your idea, Stiles…_

"How thoughtful," Lydia muttered. "I'm sure I will be fine though." She folded her arms across her chest and gave Stiles a critical look.

Pretending to not notice her attitude, Stiles climbed into his Jeep and called out the open window. "See you girls at school!"

Malia smiled at him through the open window. With a smirking glance at Lydia, Stiles leaned out the window and grabbed Malia, kissing her soundly on the lips.

 _What the hell, Stiles? Is this just a game to you?_

Lydia sighed as he drove off, leaving the two of them standing in the driveway. "Come on," she said. "I don't wanna be late."

Once they were on their way, Malia was the first to speak up. "I'm sorry by the way."

Lydia glanced over at her with furrowed brows. "About what?"

"About Friday evening," Malia said with a sigh. "I never came to visit you in the hospital."

"That's oka – "

"No, it's not," Malia interrupted her. "I'm your friend; I should have been there. But I was still so shaken up about Tracy…anyways, I went to her house. I don't know what I was looking for, but I found something."

"Found what exactly?" Lydia asked as she pulled into the school lot and parked the car. They got out of the car and walked up to the school together as Malia answered her.

"A book," she said, pulling a small novel out of her bag and handing it to Lydia.

Lydia looked at the cover of the worn paperback. "The Dread Doctors by T.R. McCammon."

She froze suddenly, staring at the cover art, which consisted of men in masks. _Men in masks…like I saw during my surgery?_

Lydia's reaction caused Malia to prod her for an explanation. "What?"

"I don't know," Lydia said, shaking her thoughts away. "There's something about it. Has anyone actually read it yet?"

"Just me," Malia replied. "And I didn't understand any of it."

Lydia sighed. "We should probably all read it."

"Kira's working on that. She's using the printer in the library to scan copies for all of us."

"Good idea," Lydia said as they reached Malia's locker.

Malia opened up her locker to grab her textbooks. "Stiles says he can't find anything on the author. He thinks it's a pen name."

Lydia flipped over the book to read the summary on the back. "In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and…buried alive." She looked up at Malia with wide-eyes before continuing to read. "Days later they emerge transformed, wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order of parascientists known only as – the Dread Doctors."

 _That's kind of terrifying. This is a novel, but that sounds exactly like what we're dealing with. What does that mean?_

"Sounds vaguely familiar," Lydia quipped. "How does it end?"

"It doesn't," Malia replied. "This is supposed to be volume one."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Oh, let me guess…There is no volume two?"

"I think we're _living_ volume two."

"Then maybe the real question is," Lydia said, "is this a novel or someone's prediction?"

Malia turned her attention back to her locker as Lydia flipped through the book. Near the final pages of the novel, Lydia's eyes landed on one page in particular.

Whipping her head around, Malia looked at Lydia in concern. "Why is your heart beating so fast?"

Lydia held out the open book to Malia and pointed frantically. "Look at this. Look at the 'Acknowledgements' page."

Malia scanned over the page, reading aloud. "For providing scientific perspective and invaluable insight, this book is dedicated to Dr. Gabriel Valack."

"You know what this means?" Lydia asked as she took the book back from Malia. "It means we have to go back to Eichen."

* * *

Jordan had Monday off from work so he decided to spend the day reading everything he could find about the Nemeton and chimeras. Halfway through an article on the funeral traditions of Celtic druids, he fell asleep on his sofa.

He barely slept the previous night for thinking about Lydia. _So does she have feelings for Stiles or not? I know he loves her, but does she love him back? I wish she would just give both of us a straight answer._

Slowly, Jordan's thoughts began to drift again. Now, he was walking down a hall in the hospital. _This looks familiar, but what am I doing here?_ As he approached a set of double doors, he could feel something beckoning to him from the other side.

Stepping into the morgue, Jordan walked over to a specific drawer and pulled it out, revealing the dead body of a young teenager with spikes all down his arms. _I feel like I need to take this somewhere…_

Jordan picked up the body and carried it out of the morgue. Once he stepped through the back entrance of the hospital, he noticed his SUV waiting for him. After setting the body down in his trunk, he drove to the Wildlife Preserve.

Though he still wasn't sure why, Jordan picked up the body once again and carried it through the woods until he reached a small clearing filled with a massive tree trunk surrounded by bodies. _The Nemeton…what am I doing here? This is just like my dreams from before._

Just as Jordan set the body down on the Nemeton, he woke up in a cold sweat. He rubbed his hands up his face and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. "Lukas…that was Lukas – the kid who was killed at Sinema on Friday night. His body is also one of the ones that was taken early Saturday morning." Jordan shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "So why am I dreaming about him?"

* * *

Lydia drove to Stiles' house after school. _He'll probably fuss at me for driving myself, but I don't really care at this point. I have to convince him not to go to Eichen house. Malia said he'd been feeling sick so this is the last thing he needs. Besides, maybe we can finally have a talk about Friday…_

As soon as Lydia stepped into his room, Stiles was being oppositional. "Lydia, I'm going with you."

"I thought you said you were sick."

He shrugged. "I'm slightly under the weather."

"You don't have to come," Lydia said deliberately. "Malia's not going either."

"Malia's not going because she knows that that place is a nightmare asylum of insanity and death, okay?" Stiles pulled on a zip-up hoodie before saying, "Let's go."

Lydia noticed Stiles wince in pain as he moved. "What was that?"

"What was what?" he asked, carefully avoiding her eyes.

"You winced," Lydia replied with raised eyebrows.

Stiles zipped up the hoodie. "I have a bad elbow."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "It was your shoulder."

"Pain radiates. It does that."

Stiles was beginning to sound frustrated, but Lydia refused to back down. She sidestepped to block his path when he attempted to leave without giving her a solid answer.

He sighed and spoke in a soft voice. "You are not going without me," he said slowly. "You remember what happened to Deaton when he talked to Valack?"

Now it was Lydia's turn to get frustrated. _Stiles, why do you have to be so freaking stubborn? I don't need you there to protect me. There's nothing you would be able to do anyways. Just stay home and deal with whatever it is that's wrong with you._

She looked up at him and spoke slowly. "Scott and Kira are going to be there."

Stiles shook his head. "Okay, I'm not letting you go to a place where one of the orderlies almost killed you."

"He almost killed you too."

"And we're both still alive," Stiles said. "See? Teamwork."

Stiles grabbed his car keys and left the room, causing Lydia to scowl and follow him out into the hall.

"Teamwork?" Lydia scoffed. "You think you had anything to do with us getting out of there alive? If Parrish hadn't shown up, we both would have been dead. If he had even just been thirty seconds later, I still would have died."

"You don't know that," Stiles said. "I would have figured out something."

"Figured out what exactly?" Lydia could feel the tears forming in her eyes. "Just admit it, Stiles. That syringe was already in my neck, and you were nowhere close to figuring out an escape." She shook her head at him. "Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that Parrish saved us?"

Stiles grabbed her gently by the shoulders and pressed their foreheads together as the last of her tears fell down her cheeks. "Because, Lydia, I love you, but I couldn't protect you. And now, I'm losing you…to him."

Lydia pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Stiles, you never had me."


	36. Chapter 36: Drift

Summary: Lydia and the pack return to Eichen House while Jordan investigates his dreams about his supernatural side.

Based on episode 5x05

Music: Drift by Galimatias & Alina Baraz

* * *

Chapter 36: Drift

Lydia hopped out of Stiles' Jeep, along with Scott and Kira, before walking up to the front gate of Eichen House. She stepped forward and pressed the button beside the intercom. "Hello?" she said. "Anyone there?"

No one answered. "Maybe we just need to give them a minute?" Kira suggested. Lydia nodded and leaned up against the wall beside the intercom. Stiles and Scott were talking amongst themselves, still standing right beside the Jeep.

"Is there something going on with you two?" Kira asked suddenly.

"What?" Lydia muttered, pretending to be ignorant. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean you and Stiles. Did something happen? You've been keeping your distance."

Lydia glanced nervously in Stiles' direction before responding. "Kind of, but you can't tell anyone…especially not Malia."

"I won't," Kira said, shaking her head.

"Promise me." Lydia reached out and grabbed Kira's arm. "I can't hurt her like that."

Kira nodded slowly. "I promise."

Lydia stole a glance in Scott and Stiles' direction again to make sure they weren't listening. "Stiles, told me something in the hospital on Friday, right before you and Scott came in." She paused. "He told me that he loves me."

"You know…" Kira furrowed her brows. "Part of me is surprised, but part of me somehow already knew that was true."

"But Malia?"

"Yes," Kira replied. "I think he loves her too."

Before Lydia could respond, the gate suddenly opened up without warning. She walked up the front steps with the others, but stopped when she heard a loud clanging sound behind them. Turning around, she could see that the gate had closed back already.

 _Well, it looks like there's no backing out now…_

* * *

Jordan stepped out of his SUV at the border of the Wildlife Preserve. _I have to know if my dreams are at all real. Is this where the bodies are ending up? Am I taking them?_

He grabbed a flashlight to help him see since the sun had just set and started walking through the woods. At one point, after hiking for hours without finding anything, he reached an empty clearing in the woods. He decided to sit down to take a break and drink some water before searching again.

He took several deep breaths and leaned his head back against a tree. A faint light in front of him caught his attention. "Hello?"

No reply.

The light grew brighter and he realized it was a flashlight beam. As the bouncing light came closer, he recognized the figure holding it.

 _Lydia?_

"Hello, Jordan," she said with a smile.

"Lydia?" he asked. "What are you doing out here?"

She furrowed her brows and shifted on her feet, causing him to notice she was wearing high heels. _That's strange…she had to have walked several miles to get out here. But in those shoes?..._

"Well, I was looking for you."

Jordan stood up and looked her in the eyes. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's not what happened," she said, taking a shaky breath. "It's what's going to happen…what could happen if no one stops it."

"What?" Jordan cried out, his eyes anxiously searching hers.

"I'll give you a hint," Lydia said. She moved closer to be able to whisper into his ear. "Eichen House."

Jordan sat bolt upright in the driver's seat of his SUV. He was drenched in sweat and, upon looking down, noticed the mud and grass caked on the bottom of his boots. He took a minute to slow down his breathing before remembering.

 _Lydia. She's in trouble._

* * *

Lydia followed silently as Scott led the way to the Patient Registration counter. An orderly named Schrader stood behind the glass window staring at them, and said, "Please empty your pockets into the container."

"We're here to see-" Scott started.

"Please empty your pockets into the container."

Reluctantly they all complied. Lydia slipped her purse off her shoulder and placed it in the container.

Schrader gave a sick smile and looked at Kira. "Please remove your belt and place it into the container."

"I kind of need the belt," Kira stuttered. "I mean, it's crucial to the outfit."

Schrader was unmoved. "Please remove your belt which patients will attempt to take from you and use to strangle either themselves or others."

Kira's hands shot to her belt buckle. "Right, got it."

 _Oh gosh…well, that's a problem we didn't anticipate. What's she going to do now without a weapon?_

Schrader moved his attention to Lydia, staring at her for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Lydia looked away, suddenly realizing that Stiles was giving Schrader a disgusted and confused look.

A door off to the left opened, revealing one of the doctors, Dr. Conrad Fenris, whom Lydia had met before. _I remember him! He took me to see Deaton after what happened when he tried to talk to Valack._

"I'll remind you," Dr. Fenris said as he led them down a tall staircase. "that I'm only doing this as a favor to Deaton. And I'm doing it against my better judgment."

Stiles spoke up for the first time since arriving. "Hey, what's the etiquette for talking to this guy? I mean, do you ever look at the other eye?"

 _Really Stiles? You couldn't answer that question for yourself? Now isn't exactly the time for sarcasm._

"I wouldn't," Dr. Fenris said. "In fact, while you're down here, try not to make eye contact with anyone or anything."

They were walking down a long hallway when Lydia realized Scott and Kira were no longer right behind her. She stopped and turned around once they reached a gate at the end of the hall. Scott and Kira were a ways back, looking up and down at the walls around them.

"You didn't think you were all going, did you?" Dr. Fenris asked.

"It's mountain ash, isn't it?" Scott asked.

"Everywhere, but heavily concentrated down here."

Dr. Fenris scanned his ID on the gate and opened it for Stiles and Lydia. "Valack's cell is the last one at the end of the hall."

Lydia looked back at Scott nervously. Scott smiled at her and nodded with confidence. "We'll be right here."

She started to walk towards the gate when Stiles put his hand on her shoulders and slid it down to the crook of her back, gently leading her through the doorway and into the hall.

 _What do you think you're doing? You shouldn't be touching me like this when you have a girlfriend. You're lucky Scott and Kira won't tell Malia about this._

Just as Lydia was about to say something, he removed his hand. As they walked down the hall, Lydia noticed Stiles staring into one of the cells with a concerned look on his face. She looked into the cell and saw a strange supernatural creature. _Not that that is normal or anything, but I don't think it warrants that expression. What were you making that face for?_

When they approached Valack's cell, he looked up at them and said, "Tell me what you just saw."

Stiles glanced at Lydia before answering. "Me?"

"The creature in the previous cell: the Sluagh. The myth is that they can take on the appearance of the lost souls that have become inextricably bound to it. Happened to have seen any lost souls, Mr. Stilinski?"

"Everyone down here," Stiles replied.

"Don't give up on us yet. We're all works-in-progress."

 _"_ Where did you hear that from?" Lydia asked.

Valack smiled at her. "Wise words from a former cellmate." He stood up and moved closer to the glass cell door. "Did you bring the book?"

Stiles pulled the small paperback out of his pocket and held it up in front of him. "Very nice," Valack said. "First edition. Of course, there was only one printing."

Lydia glared at his smirking face. "There is no T.R. McCammon, is there?"

"No," Valack grinned.

"You wrote the book," Lydia stated.

"That's right, Lydia. Maybe you've already guessed that it's not just a book."

"What is it?" she asked.

"A tool," Valack replied. "Designed to open your eyes."

"To what?" Stiles asked.

"To them: the Dread Doctors."

Lydia stepped closer to the glass. "Why did you use a pseudonym?"

"I had a professional reputation once. I wasn't interested in ruining it by putting my name on a second-rate piece of trash."

Stiles furrowed his brows. "Then why write the book in the first place?"

"You haven't even read it yet, have you? I wrote it because no one believed me. Because no one listened." He paused suddenly. "They're here, aren't they? In Beacon Hills."

"What are they?"

"Not entirely human. At least, not anymore. They were scientists once. Scientists who worshipped the supernatural. Tesla said, 'If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.' They found their secrets in electromagnetic forces. Ways to prolong their lives, give them power, and most importantly, making you forget you ever saw them."

"What do they want?" Lydia asked.

"Good question, Lydia. Everybody wants something, don't they?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay, so what do you want?"

Valack held up a tiny tape recorder and placed it inside a panel in the door. "Hit record."

Lydia looked at him curiously. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything. I want you to scream."


	37. Chapter 37: Reap

Summary: Lydia and the pack return to Eichen House while Jordan investigates his dreams about his supernatural side.

Based on episode 5x05

Music: Reap by BASECAMP

* * *

Chapter 37: Reap

Jordan pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Lydia. It rang several times before beeping in his ear. He tried again, only to receive the same annoying tone.

"Damn it, Lydia. Pick up the phone!" He cried. Jordan typed out a quick text asking if she was okay and tossed the phone into the passenger seat.

Putting the car into drive, he sped off towards Eichen House. _Okay, think, Jordan, think! I heard her say Eichen House in my – whatever you would call that. I'll check there first._

Jordan parked his car in front of Eichen House and jumped out. He ran over to the intercom and pressed the button. Before he could even say anything, the gate opened up at the sound of a buzzer. He rushed up the steps and burst in the front door.

As he was approaching the front desk, he saw one of the other orderlies coming over to the one posted at the front desk.

"You can't just let anyone with a badge in, especially not him. Man, what the hell!"

The orderly at the front desk dropped the magazine he was holding and held his hands up in front of him. "Sorry, Schrader, I didn't know. I figured we should at least see what he wants."

"Yes," Schrader replied. Then he turned to look at Jordan and said, "And we could have done that from _outside_ the front gate."

Jordan held up a hand and apologized. "I'm just looking for Lydia Martin."

Schrader leaned over the desk and glared at Jordan. "And why should I tell you that? Don't come in here acting all innocent. I know about your history with this institution."

Folding his arms across his chest, Jordan said, "You mean like when I prevented one of your employees, a supervisor in fact, from murdering a couple of teenagers?"

Schrader was unfazed. "I mean how you feel entitled to enter and move about this facility on a whim. I will not be manipulated by a badge. Now unless you can provide me with a documented reason to be here, get the hell out."

Jordan clenched his jaw and turned around to leave without replying. He checked his phone once he was back in his car, but Lydia had not texted back.

 _Come on, Lydia. Where are you?_

* * *

Lydia picked up the recorder, but Stiles snatched it out of her hand.

"No way! Not happening. Sorry," he said.

Lydia rolled her eyes and turned around so her back was facing Valack. _Oh my gosh, Stiles. Could you chill for like two minutes? It's my decision, not yours. Besides, we need him to talk! And if this is the only way to make that happen…_

"He's the only one that knows anything," she said to Stiles in a raised whisper.

"The guy is a nut job who drilled a hole into his head," Stiles replied. "He's probably lying his a** off."

Valack suddenly started shouting from behind them. "How many have died so far? All of them teenagers. Am I right? Want to know how many died the first time they came here? I wonder how many will die if they succeed?"

The lights began to flicker all around them.

"This did happen before," Lydia said.

"And now they're back," Valack said. "All because a few teenagers, who never even considered the consequences, decided to reignite a supernatural force they barely understand."

"The Nemeton?" Lydia asked.

"How do you even know about that?" Stiles asked.

"I know because I saw it."

Valack pulled the bandage off his head, revealing his third eye in the middle of his forehead. As the lights began to flicker more, Valack looked around anxiously. "Who did you come with?"

"Our friends," Lydia replied.

"What are they?"

Stiles put a hand on Lydia again and said, "Don't answer."

Lydia pulled away from him just as Valack said, "You've brought a kitsune."

A light behind them suddenly exploded, causing Lydia to shriek. "What's happening?"

"She's disrupting the building's defenses."

"What do you mean? How?" Lydia asked.

"It's not just the mountain ash that keeps this building secure," Valack replied. "It's the electromagnetic energy. Eichen is built on the convergence of Telluric currents. Ley lines. It's what allows it to keep certain supernatural creatures in, and certain others out." Valack paused before continuing. "They knew you were coming. They're here. And you unlocked the door for them."

Valack pressed his palms against the glass door and shouted at them. "Hit record. Do it now. It costs you nothing."

"But it's worth something to you," Stiles said. "So you're not getting it for free."

 _What is this? A hostage negotiation? Can I not negotiate for myself? It's my voice after all._

"What does the book do?" Lydia asked.

"Tell us," Stiles yelled.

"I told you," Valack replied with an even tone. "It opens your eyes."

"How?" Lydia asked.

"It triggers the memory centers of the brain, clearing the fog and bringing the images of the Dread Doctors into focus. I wrote the book in an effort to find out if anyone else like me had ever seen them before. I thought I could circulate it, an effort to trigger someone – anyone else's memory. They'd see the cover, a hint of memory…They pick up the book, read it. The suppressed memories surface, and then they'd find their way to me to discover more. Just like you did."

"Did it work with anyone else?" Stiles asked.

"You didn't see it on the New York Times Best Seller list, did you?" Valack replied.

Lydia stepped closer. "So all we have to do is read the book?"

Valack nodded and moved closer in response. "If you've seen them, if they've done something to you, then the book will help you remember. Now give me what I want!"

Lydia reached out her open hand to Stiles, waiting for him to hand over the recorder. He glanced back and forth between her and Valack several times before slapping the device into her hand. Lydia waited until Stiles covered his ears and then pressed record, letting out a soul-ripping scream.

An alarm suddenly started blaring overhead as Lydia slammed the recorder onto the shelf of the cell door. She was panting and out of breath as she turned her attention back to Valack.

"Tell us what they want."

Stiles came up beside her and placed a hand on her back. "Lydia, I think we need to get out of here."

She glared at him over her shoulder before looking back at Valack. "What are they trying to do?"

Valack shook his head. "Read the book. Anyone who's come into contact with them."

"Lydia, we gotta go. Now," Stiles said as he dragged her away from the cell by her arm.

"Read the book!" Valack yelled after them as they ran down the hallway.

As they turned down another hallway, Lydia cried out, "Stiles, I can hear them. They're close."

Stiles stopped suddenly and glanced around. "In here!" he shouted, and pulled Lydia into an examination room off the hall.

They ran around a far wall and Stiles wrapped his arms around Lydia, pulling her up against him as he pressed his back into the wall.

 _Stiles! What are you doing? I doubt this is just to protect me…If I was less terrified, I would slap you._

After several minutes the lights came back up and the room grew quiet. Lydia began to breathe normally once again.

"I think we're okay," she whispered. When Stiles didn't respond she said his name to make sure he was alright.

"No, it's not okay. All of this, it's on us. Everything that's happened, everything that's going to happen. It's our fault."

"It's our responsibility," Lydia replied.

She stepped away from Stiles and wrung her hands nervously. "We should go find the others, and get out of here."

Stiles nodded and moved away from the wall.

Lydia looked Stiles up and down as they retraced the hall towards the entrance. _I really need to learn how to defend myself…because that's not going to cut it._

After recovering their belongings from the front desk, Stiles and Lydia slipped out of Eichen and rejoined Scott and Kira. Lydia's hand shot up to her mouth when she saw Scott lying on the ground covered in burns.

As Kira explained what happened, Lydia felt her phone going off in her purse. She pulled out the phone to see she had several missed calls and a text from Jordan. _Oh no, this doesn't seem good._ Lydia replied to his text saying.

 _I'm okay, will tell you the details later._


	38. Chapter 38: Let Me Touch Your Fire

Summary: Jordan teaches Lydia how to fight.

Based on episode 5x06

Music: Let Me Touch Your Fire by ARIZONA

* * *

Chapter 38: Let Me Touch Your Fire

The next day, Lydia hopped in her car and drove home as soon as school was over. She went upstairs to her bedroom and called Jordan, sitting on the edge of her bed as she twirled her hair with her free hand. He answered almost immediately.

"Hey, Lydia." He answered shortly. "What's going on?"

"Everything's okay," she said before he could worry. "I just wanted to ask you for a favor. You know, following up on what I asked for in the hospital? I still want to learn how to fight."

"My shift's almost over, should be home in thirty minutes. You can come over then?"

She could hear the tension in his voice. He was clearly still upset with her. _He's hurt that I haven't given an answer yet. Not really, anyway…_

"Yeah, that's fine," Lydia said, forcing herself to sound happy. "I'll see you soon."

With tears stinging her cheeks, Lydia jerked her shirt up and over her head, throwing it on the floor of her closet. She grabbed a sports bra and yoga pants, quickly changing before grabbing a zip-up hoodie and walking towards the door. She caught a glimpse in the mirror of the large gauze pad on her side and gingerly brushed her fingertips across it. She choked back tears and wiped her eyes, gently removing any stray makeup.

After glancing at the dingy bandage once again, Lydia slipped on the black jacket and zipped it up.

* * *

As Jordan grabbed his keys and jacket, he looked up to see Stiles and Malia in the Sheriff's office talking with Sheriff Stilinski. _What are they talking about? They've been here like an hour._ Jordan took two steps and froze, closing his eyes with a sigh. _Of course – the eight new chimeras. Jordan, why are you so stupid sometimes?_

Jordan dashed into his apartment as soon as he parked his car. He dumped his jacket and keys on the coffee table before stepping into the bedroom to change. Unbuttoning his shirt, Jordan puzzled over his open dresser drawer. _What should I wear? I haven't done laundry in so long I don't even know if I have anything clean._

Now shirtless, Jordan rummaged through the drawer and found a blue exercise tank and a pair of grey sweats. Once he finished changing, he stepped into the bathroom to apply more deodorant. Looking in the mirror, he lifted a hand and rubbed his bicep. _Maybe I should put on a jacket over this. Given…everything that's happened, I don't want her to get the wrong idea. I'm not trying to seduce her or show off; I'm just helping her learn how to fight._

Suddenly, Jordan heard the doorbell ring. Walking back through the bedroom, he grabbed a lightweight jacket and slipped it on. He opened the door to Lydia, who was standing there with her hair in a ponytail and wearing all black.

"We need to talk," she said in a soft voice.

Jordan motioned for her to enter and followed her to the couch. He watched her face carefully as she started to speak.

"I know you must be mad at me for everything with Stiles, but you should know I turned him away. Do I care about him? Of course I do. Honestly, I think I might even love him. But it's different. He's my friend, and a part of Scott's pack, just like me."

Lydia reached out to grab Jordan's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Jordan, there's no competition between the two of you, not for me."

Jordan looked up from his hands and into her eyes. "That's not what I was expecting you to say, but I'm certainly glad to hear it."

After realizing how long they were staring at each other, Jordan stood up and went to the kitchen. "I'll grab us some bottles of water."

He stepped back into the living room and handed her one of the cold bottles. "You ready to get started?"

She smiled up at him before saying, "Ready when you are."

* * *

Lydia stood up from the couch and looked at the wall behind her. She noticed a handful of photographs taped to the wall in a column beside one of the windows. Letting her fingertips graze the wall, she turned to face Jordan. "What are these pictures from? I've been to your apartment before, but I guess I never really noticed."

He glanced at the wall before turning his attention back to Lydia. "Most of them are pictures from my tour in Afghanistan with the army." Jordan pointed to one of the photos in the middle. "This one is of a few of my friends I was stationed with. The one below it is me in uniform."

Lydia looked down the line of photographs until she reached the one at the bottom. "Um, what's that one?"

When Jordan saw the photo she was pointing at, he let out a laugh. "That, is a meerkat."

Lydia looked up at him with a confused expression, but before she could say anything, he explained, "My sister loved meerkats."

"Sister?" Lydia asked. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"Most people don't," Jordan replied. "She died when I was seven."

"Oh gosh, Jordan, I'm so sorry."

He looked at her with a smile. "It's okay, I promise. But keeping that picture there helps remind me of her, and the days when I had any family to speak of."

Lydia wanted to change the subject to something less vulnerable and depressing, when she noticed the framed map across the room. "So, Afghanistan," she said. "Is that what you have a framed map of?"

Jordan nodded. "Yeah, I feel like I learned a lot when I was in the army and it contributed to who I am today, so it only makes sense to commemorate that time of my life in my home. I learned a lot of technical skills that help me with work, and like I said before, the army's where I learned hand-to-hand combat."

He folded his arms across his chest and smiled at her. "Speaking of which, we need to get to work."

After moving the coffee table aside, Jordan helped Lydia get into the proper stance. He went through the steps of different forms of both offense and defense, showing her how to punch and knee effectively. Since Lydia was more concerned about being able to protect herself, they began by focusing more on defensive maneuvers. She effectively blocked several punches before missing a jab from his left knee.

"Arms up," Jordan said. "This way you can block attacks to your face and your head while always keeping your eyes on your enemy."

Lydia nodded in response. When he asked if she was ready, she nodded again, now holding her forearms higher in front of her face.

This time through the sequence Lydia blocked the punches and the knee, but she missed a swipe at her neck. _Damn it! Come on, Lydia, get with the program._ She walked away from Jordan a little and closed her eyes with a frustrated growl.

"It's alright," Jordan said. "You're not going to be perfect after only a few tries.

Lydia stepped across the room in a mini lap to vent her frustration. "I'm okay," she said, wiping her fingers across her eyes to fend off the tiredness. "Keep going."

"You sure?" Jordan asked. "Maybe we should stop after a few."

She met his eyes and saw the concerned look on his face. "Why?" she asked.

He grinned like a little boy and said, "I don't want your stitches to get unstitched."

"They're fine," Lydia replied with a smirk.

She noticed the smile fade slightly from his face as his attention moved to her right side. _He's clearly not easily appeased. I appreciate the concern, but seriously? Just trust me on this._

With a big sigh Lydia unzipped her hoodie and pushed down her pant waistline on her right side so Jordan could see the entire gauze pad. "See? No blood."

Jordan looked from her waist to her eyes, now with a very different look on his face. _In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have done that. I'm sure I startled him when I opened a jacket to nothing but a sports bra underneath. This is the most exposed he's seen me…Well, I'm committed now._

Lydia pulled off her jacket and tossed it onto the couch, noticing Jordan followed suit. "Ready when you are," she said.

She had to repeatedly pull her eyes away from his now exposed arms. His biceps were toned and glowing with sweat, but she turned to his green eyes until he made the first move.

This time through Jordan only threw punches, which she managed to block effectively. After a minute, Lydia's block caused her arm to get twisted up in his. Before she realized what was happening, her attempted punch forced her body to get twisted around so her back was pressed up against Jordan with both their arms tangled up in front of her.

As she struggled to catch her breath, she could feel his on her neck as he asked, "What did you do wrong?"

"I forgot to keep my arms up," Lydia replied as she realized his right hand was resting low on her stomach, causing her cheeks to flush.

"Right," he said. "But don't worry. Your muscles have memory. With enough practice, they'll remember for you."

She sighed and leaned her head back on his shoulder. When she tilted her face to the side, she blushed again at the sensation of his cheek against her, all at once becoming aware of every point of their bodies that was touching. As she started to turn towards him more, she glanced down at her arm and suddenly she was in the hospital room again with the men in masks – the Dread Doctors.

Lydia cried out and felt Jordan instantly let go and back away. She wrung her hands together nervously as she noticed the Dread Doctors' book sticking out of her bag across the room.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Jordan asked with an anxious voice.

"Muscle memory."


End file.
